Brojen Bora at his residence on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, March 25: Actor Brojen Bora has always taken pride in being a film personality who writes his own script and is credited with having introduced the action genre to Assamese films. This time round, though, it is the people who will write the script of his “biggest act”.

Bora today took the plunge into politics after his name was announced as the candidate of the Janata Dal (United) for the prestigious Tezpur seat, where he will take on Congress strongman Mani Kumar Subba.

“Politics needs good people,” he told The Telegraph after his name was announced and said he would try to contribute in cleansing the system.

The party said Bora was selected for the Tezpur seat as the north bank town is known as the nerve centre of the state’s culture, which had nurtured icons like Jyotiprasad Agarwalla, Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Bhupen Hazarika.

“Tezpur, or for that matter, other constituencies of the state are hardly represented by a person with a clean image. We are fortunate that he (Bora) agreed to be a candidate from our party,” JD (U) spokesman Debobroto Das said.

He said his party would not have any truck with the BJP in the state.

The JD (U) is contemplating fielding candidates in at least four constituencies — Tezpur, Lakhimpur, Kaliabor and Nagaon.

Bora said of the several parties that approached him, he liked the JD (U)’s ideology and particularly the way its leader Nitish Kumar was running the government in Bihar.

Another motivation for Bora to don the JD (U) mantle was the Janata Party’s brief stint in Dispur. “The Janata Party government did a lot of good work in the state… Hum phir se use ugainge yahaan (we will nurture the party here again),” Bora said.

“Change” would be his main campaign plank. “The people of Assam are longing for change. I have decided to give it a shot,” he said.

However, it will be a tough challenge for Bora. Even a leading figure like Bhupen Hazarika had lost the Lok Sabha polls in 2004 from Guwahati. And Bora — a popular actor of the 1980s, known mainly for his action movies, which he himself directed — knows it only too well.

“I know my path will not be a bed of roses, but I am confident of reaching my goal,” he added with the confidence of an action hero.

Although Bora will make his debut in electoral politics, he is not entirely new to politics. “During my student days, I was involved in student politics. After that, I was associated with many social organisations in various capacities, so I am not entirely a novice,” he said.

He signed off saying politics was not bad, it is the people who pollute it.