Another Congress Veteran Jumps Ship; Check Those Who Quit The Party Recently

Guwahati: Former Assam Congress president and Ripun Bora on Sunday became the latest seasoned leader to resign from the party. He joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the presence of the party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

“From today I have started my new political journey!” Ripun wrote.

In his resignation letter addressed to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Ripun said he was thankful and grateful, before going on to mention why he was “compelled to take such a harsh decision.”

He stated that instead of fighting unitedly and aggressively to stop BJP at this critical juncture of the country, “leaders of this grand old party at different levels are fighting with each other for their vested interests.”

He stated that he had been putting in tremendous hard work after being entrusted with the responsibility of Assam PCC chief following a “devastating defeat” in Assam Assembly elections in 2016.

“But due to continuous inner fighting by a section of seniormost leaders of the Assam PCC, people lost faith in us and did not give us the mandate to form the government,” he wrote, adding that some party leaders played a role in paving the way for BJP’s recent wins in Assembly polls and Rajya Sabha seats.

THOSE WHO LEFT CONGRESS RECENTLY

* Former Goa CM Luizinho Falerio joined Trinamool Congress in December

* Sushmita Dev, a former MP from Assam’s Silchar, joined TMC

* Former Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma joined TMC

* Jyotiraditya Scindia, senior leader from Madhya Pradesh, joined BJP in 2020. He is now a Cabinet Minister in the Narendra Modi government.

* Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh quit the Congress in 2021 and founded Punjab Lok Congress.

* Veteran Kerala Congress leader PC Chacko joined Nationalist Congress Party.

* Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee joined TMC

* Former Congress UP vice-president Lalitesh Tripathi joined TMC.