Losing Rupjyoti, Sushanta big blow to party: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has conceded defeat in the State bye-polls and admitted that losing both Rupjyoti Kurmi (Mariani) and Sushanta Borgohain (Thowra) was a "big blow" to the party. Talking to media persons, APCC president Bhupen Bora said, "This defeat has been a blow to the party but the party will surely emerge stronger from this. The new APCC committee, formed just 100 days ago, did not get enough time to prepare for the bye-polls. Both Sushanta Borgohain and Rupjyoti Kurmi were the incumbent MLAs from these seats for more than two times now and they were the captains of the party teams there. So their winning once again does not surprise us."

Borgohain and Kurmi had deserted the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They were given the tickets to fight from their seats once again by the saffron party in the bye-poll.

The APCC president further said, "Since the result of this poll doesn't change the government in the State, the Congress wanted to test itself by fighting alone. We will continue to fight alone and work for strengthening our base. In Gossaigaon and Bhabanipur, the Congress has fought election almost after 20 and 10 years respectively and we still managed to gather public support."

APCC blamed BJP's politics of polarization and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's lead role in the election campaigns for their defeat in the bye-polls. Bora said, "When the Chief Minister promises to fulfill the demands of the people of the constituencies, people will surely get lured. We also want the Chief Minister to fulfill his promises and as an Opposition, we will keep a close eye on him."

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