Guwahati. Trinamool Congress’ Assam unit president Ripun Bora on Sunday resigned from the party, claiming that people of the northeastern state consider TMC a “regional party” of West Bengal and are “not willing” to accept it as their own.
After Bora’s announcement, Trinamool Youth Congress Assam unit president Mehboob Ali also resigned from the party.
Ali said, “Due to personal reasons, I am resigning from the post of president of the youth wing of Assam Trinamool Congress as well as from the party.” In a letter to Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, former Rajya Sabha member Bora said that he had given many suggestions to party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to make TMC “acceptable” in Assam, but no work was done on them.
Bora said in his resignation letter, “The Assam unit of TMC has a lot of potential, but some issues that have come up repeatedly have hindered our progress, including seeing the party as a regional party of West Bengal. We had given many suggestions to remove this perception.” Bora claimed that he had suggested the inclusion of an Assamese leader at the national level of TMC, declaring the residence of Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhupen Hazarika in Tollygunge, Kolkata as a heritage site and converting Madhupur Session in Cooch Behar into a cultural center.
Former Assam minister Bora said, “For the last one and a half years, I have tried continuously to meet you (Abhishek) and our chief Mamata Didi to address these concerns, but I have been unsuccessful.” Bora said, “In view of these challenges and lack of proper solution, I am forced to take a difficult decision and I have decided to separate myself from TMC.” He said that he has been the state president of TMC for more than two years and during this time he has established extensive communication with the people across the state. Bora also expressed gratitude to Mamata Banerjee for giving him the opportunity to lead TMC in Assam.