Joyasree Goswami Mahanta in Guwahati on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Jan. 27: The woman who has long borne the ignominy of being considered the reason behind a former chief minister’s woes has decided to bid adieu to politics.

Joyasree Goswami Mahanta, a former Rajya Sabha MP, held responsible by most within the AGP for the political agony of her husband and two-time chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, today revealed that she had quit politics.

The 1961-born Joyasree, who broke her silence before The Telegraph at her residence this afternoon, said she would be concentrating on literary projects that includes an archive to help youths of the state “reconnect” with their roots.

She spoke on the sidelines of a get-together organised by the couple at their high-security Dispur residence.

“I have been off politics for some time now. I was not enjoying it even when I was in active politics. I am convinced that I can render more service to the people of Assam in some other way — through my writing and raising just causes in public as a socially conscious citizen. But I am through with politics. I had been thinking about leaving for some years now. If you check, I did not even hold a party post in AGP (P). It is just that I wanted to share my feelings now,” Joyasree said.

AGP (P) merged with the parent party in 2008.

“I am quite busy today. Besides, I am writing regularly for newspapers and also planning new books. I am also actively working on setting up an archive which will showcase Assam’s historical, social, political life with the objective of taking our youths to their roots. Sadly, today’s youths, despite being highly qualified, are mostly detached or ignorant about their roots. I am also concentrating on Sanskrit literature,” Joyasree added.

The revelation comes at a time when her husband is back in form after rejoining the parent party in 2008. When Mahanta was unseated as party president in September 2001, some party colleagues had objected to his wife’s alleged interference in party matters. Joyasree, however, does not see herself responsible for Mahanta’s political plight. “I am in no way responsible. In fact, I had always stood by him when he was the chief minister and after. This is the handiwork of those dissatisfied with our government for some reason or the other. They wanted to blame someone and who better than me,” she said.