Assam: Congress says BJP's agenda is to gain 64 MLAs to become independent of allies

GUWAHATI: Ripun Bora, the current president of the Assam Congress, today said that defected MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi might have become a victim of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) agenda to recruit opposition parties' MLAs so that it does not have to depend on its allies to remain in power.

"BJP has an agenda to get 64 MLAs so that they don't have to be dependent on the AGP and UPPL...and they will continue these attempts. How they can steal MLAs from other parties....perhaps Rupjyoti Kurmi has also put his feet in their fund," Bora said.

"It (Kurmi's departure) is naturally sad. I, as both a Congress president and worker, believe every Congress worker is an asset. We do not want any Congress member to leave the party. Rupjyoti was an asset for us as he became MLA for four terms and was one of the most anti-BJP leaders in the party and we never thought that he would leave and join the BJP," said Bora.

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He then went on to refute Kurmi's allegations of being sidelined from the party. "It is true that he did not get the post of Congress president -- however, who gets the post does not only depend on how many times one wins the election. In the past, we have seen that MPs and MLAs who have held their post for 50 years have also not been selected as the president."

Bora went on to say that Congress has, over the years, faced many such challenges. "However, in spite of all this, we have seen that Congress has again become powerful. These challenges are only coming due to the party's loss in the recent Assembly elections."

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