Guwahati, Aug. 23: Acting Assam PCC president Ripun Bora has been given complete charge of the state unit this evening.

The decision to appoint 58-year-old Bora, also a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, as the state PCC chief was approved by party president Sonia Gandhi, an AICC press release signed by general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

Party insiders said the appointment reflected the party brass's mood to appoint someone "relatively seasoned, aggressive, a mobiliser of men and funds and an effective orator" to take on the ruling BJP in the state.

The high command had taken its time before announcing his name as veterans such as Paban Singh Ghatowar and Bhubaneswar Kalita and young ones such as Ranee Narah and Bhupen Kumar Borah were also among those in contention.

Bora was made interim chief on July 2.

"His aggressive streak and oratory skills must have tilted the scale in his favour. But it is good that the suspense is no more. The state unit can now start the rebuilding process in earnest," a party insider said.

Born in Gohpur in Sonitpur district, Bora's life and career has been like a roller-coaster ride. An influential minister in the Tarun Gogoi cabinet, he was arrested by the CBI in 2008 on charges of bribing a CBI official investigating a murder case against him. "I have been cleared in both cases," Bora had told The Telegraph in 2014.

Backed by former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and then by the late Anjan Dutta, the man he replaced, Bora's rehabilitation in the party was swift. He went on to become the Assam PCC vice-president during Dutta's tenure and was then nominated to the Rajya Sabha on March 21 this year.

Party insiders said Bora was almost the "number two" in the Dutta-led PCC because of his ability to "deliver" the goods whenever required and handle the media.

Dutta, who took charge on December 13, 2014, died on June 16 this year soon after his return from a family vacation in South Africa.

"I feel proud and am thrilled that the high command has reposed faith in me to lead the party at this critical juncture. I have taken it as a challenge# to make the state unit stronger and vibrant in the days to come," Bora told The Telegraph.

During the day, he was in Tezpur attending a district-level DRDA meeting and then addressed a news conference in the afternoon. "AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam C.P. Joshi informed me 15 minutes ahead of the formal announcement, which was around 6.55pm," he said.

The appointment came on eve of his four-day stock-taking visit to the Barak Valley and Dima Hasao after the drubbing the party received in the Assembly polls. The Congress could win only 26 of the 126 Assembly seats in the state.

Congress Legislature Party and Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia will be part of the Bora-led team.

"The Barak Valley visit stands. My first priority is to reorganise the state unit from the block level to the PCC to give it a new look and direction in the next two-three months," Bora said.

He also made it clear that nobody needs to feel insecure as the reorganised PCC will have people from the PCCs headed by Bhubaneswar Kalita and Dutta.