Guwahati: Trinamool Congress (TMC), Assam unit chief, Ripun Bora on Saturday (October 21) said that all the leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.), should be very careful while making any statement, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), may distort and misinterpret it, to defame the opposition bloc. 


Reacting to Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Bhupen Kumar Borah’s recent statement, saying they would contest in all the 14 seats of Assam in the 2024 general elections, the former Rajya Sabha member, Ripun Bora, said, “The statement that the Assam Congress President made is totally unwanted and such statement may create confusion not only among the constituents of the I.N.D.I.A. partners but also the common people too, as everyone’s ultimate goal is to fight and defeat the BJP. This is the need of the hour and the people have already made up their minds to oust the BJP from power this time.”


Bora urged all the leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc not to make any statement that may hurt the sentiments of the constituent partners and jeopardise their unity.


The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief, Bhupen Kumar Borah, a couple of days ago, said that they would contest all the 14 Lok Sabha seats of Assam in next year’s general elections. The BJP soon criticised the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for lacking unity among them. However, Borah later clarified that by “we,” he meant the I.N.D.I.A.. bloc.


“We, the constituent leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, must be very careful while making any statement as the BJP is very scared of the opposition alliance. Every day and in every step, the saffron party is trying to find fault in us, and from any single word uttered by us, they can distort it and may even misinterpret it," Ripun Bora added.  


The TMC national spokesperson remarked that the BJP’s IT cell’s only purpose is to propagate and make a disinformation campaign against the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.


“As the BJP has distorted Bhupen Kumar Borah’s statement, I would therefore appeal to all our constituent leaders to be very careful while making any statement so that they do not fall into the trap of the BJP,” Ripun Bora stressed.  


He further mentioned that so far the I.N.D.I.A.. partners are concerned, the TMC is the largest party in the Eastern region of the country among all the constituents of the bloc.


“Though there are 28 parties in the INDIA alliance, but in the entire Eastern India, the TMC is the largest party in West Bengal and even in Assam, among all the stakeholders of the INDIA alliance, the TMC is the second largest and visible party after the Congress as a majority of the constituents of the INDIA alliance do not have their presence in the state,” Ripun Bora added.  


On being asked about the ‘cash for query’ controversy involving TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Bora said, “I should not make any comment as the matter is sub judice on one side, and on the other side, it is a matter of the Indian Parliament, and the ethics committee has already taken up the issue.”


ALSO READ | TMC Keeps Distance From MP Mahua Moitra's Cash For Query Row


The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.nort


Subscribe And Follow ABP Live On Telegram: https://t.me/officialabplive