Guwahati, Sep 9 : Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev has criticised former party chief in Assam, Ripun Bora and said that his vote division theory does not hold water.

Dev told IANS on Monday, 'Ripun Bora claimed that Trinamool Congress caused a division of the Opposition's votes in Assam in this year's Lok Sabha polls by fighting elections alone and not forging an alliance with the Congress party.

'I completely disagree with his statement. I want to remind him that the AAP also fought elections alone in the state and their candidates in two Lok Sabha seats got more than 1.5 lakh votes.'

'I am surprised as to why Mr Bora only blamed the Trinamool Congress without uttering anything against the AAP,' she asked.

Notably, the Trinamool Congress, despite being a constituent of the Opposition's INDIA bloc, contested polls alone in Assam in four Lok Sabha constituencies after the seat sharing talks between it and the Congress failed in West Bengal.

After joining the Congress, Ripun Bora claimed that as the Trinamool fought polls alone in the state, the vote division helped the BJP gain ground over the Congress.

To recall, Ripun Bora quit the Trinamool and went back to the Congress party on Sunday. He questioned the leadership of the Trinamool Congress regarding the party's expansion plan in Assam.

Bora expressed his displeasure in his resignation letter addressed to Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee over the functioning of the Trinamool Congress and said, 'Assam TMC has great potential, but several recurring issues have hindered our progress, including the perception of TMC as a regional party of West Bengal.

'To counter this perception, we made several suggestions, such as the need for an Assamese leader at the national level, declaring the residence of Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika at Tollygunge a heritage site, and converting the Madhupur Satra at Cooch Behar (the place from where Assam's greatest social reformer Mahapurush Sankardev started the Vaishnavite movement) into a cultural hub.'

However, Sushmita Dev argued that the Trinamool would go a long way in Assam and the party workers were prepared to take on the BJP in the state.

'The party will soon appoint an interim state chief for a six-month term. A full-time President will be engaged later,' she said.

/IANS