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Support of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury towards the gesture of Mamata Banerjee at the function can surprise many

Congress leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had stated that the sloganeering at the function in Kolkata on January 23 was done specifically to insult the CM of West Bengal and that he condemns it.

Defence of TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee by West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, over the issue of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary event, did come as a bit of a surprise for many who are aware that he is a known Mamata Banerjee critic, who at one point had even called her chameleon hankering for the post of PM. But it bears political significance and also gives a glimpse into what could be the Congress plans for West Bengal in the election season.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Rahul Gandhi did two tours of Tamil Nadu in a short span and the reason is that he wants to send a message to the DMK, that an alliance with them will not be on a begging bowl basis. The Congress wants to contest in over 40 seats, given that the state gave the largest number of MPs to the party during the Lok Sabha polls. The huge crowds that greeted Rahul Gandhi is also the Congress’s way of showing to the DMK that it has a presence in the state and that its belief that Congress would be a liability is unfounded.

The next tour of Rahul Gandhi is expected soon in Bengal. And, here is the plan. He is most likely to hit the areas where the BJP is believed to be in the stronghold or from where it has won in the Lok Sabha polls like jangalmahal regions. Even if parts of TMC stronghold are chosen as part of his tour, it is unlikely that he will attack the TMC aggressively, which hints at a post-poll alliance or external support to TMC.

The logic is simple. The Congress may have formed an alliance with the Left to take on Mamata, but it also knows that a defeated TMC would be a huge boost for the BJP’s plans for an all India presence. Mamata Banerjee is one of the strongest leaders. It is because she has taken on the BJP and the prime minister directly on many issues like demonetization, CAA-NRC, and Farmers’ protests. Her defeat would mean that the Opposition’s fight against the BJP gets weaker.

But the Congress party is in a dilemma. On one hand, the TMC has won away about 20 MLAs of the Congress and this is unacceptable to the cadre. This was also one of the reasons why Chowdhury pushed for an alliance with the Left, which is to teach a lesson to the TMC.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

Also, on the other hand, as a national party that wants to fight the rising clout of regional players, Congress cannot be seen as not putting up a fight. But there is no denying that both the TMC and the Congress realize that fighting each other would only end up strengthening the BJP. The entry of players like Owaisi has only made things tougher for the TMC. He is likely to cut into the minority votes of Mamata which have till now been solidly behind her. He could also threaten Chowdhury’s minority vote bank in Murshidabad, which is his stronghold. Hence the need to “stick together” without making it, looks so.

Recently Sougato Roy of the TMC had thrown a googly at the Congress by asking it to join hands to keep the BJP away. Chowdhury on behalf of his party had rejected it, & instead he asked it (TMC) to merge with the Congress. But behind this, what seemed like an off-the-cuff remark, is a plan and idea brewing, which is that the BJP is the bigger enemy.

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Mamata’s rally drew huge crowds prior to arrival of Modi in Kolkata- asks for four capital cities-criticizes centre for scrapping the Planning Commission envisioned by Bose

Prior to the arrival of Modi at Kolkata, Mamata carried out a massive rally on foot starting from Shaymbazar to the statue of Netaji at the Red Road in the heart of the city. Prior to the beginning of the rally, Mamata paid homage to the National Hero at his paternal house- Netaji Bhawan. The rally, where a large number of people were led by Mamata Banerjee, passed in front of the Presidency College, the Calcutta Medical College, through the Central Avenue towards its destination.

At 12:15 pm, the CM blew a conch shell marking the moment exactly when Bose was born.

Mamata Banerjee announced that a monument dedicated to the Azad Hind Fauj of Netaji, would be built in the Rajarhat area. She also stated that a university named after Netaji would be set up, funded entirely by the state, adding that the proposed university will have tie-ups with foreign universities.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

While the state government declared the birthday of the National hero as the Deshnayak Diwas, the central government announced the day as Parakram Diwas. Mamata Banerjee today said that India must have four rotating capitals.

The CM gave this statement while addressing a programme at Netaji Bhavan in Kolkata on his 125th birth anniversary.

“I believe that India must have 4 rotating capitals. The English ruled the entire country from Kolkata. Why should there be only one capital city in our country,” said Banerjee.

While addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister pointed out that Netaji did not get his due respect and asserted that the state will celebrate the event as ‘Desh Nayak Diwas’.

Mamata further added, “There has been no patriot like Netaji. He endorsed Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ for the National Anthem. He gave the ‘Jai Hind’ slogan. Netaji was a great philosopher. He envisioned the Planning Commission and the Indian National Army before Independence. But Netaji did not get his due respect.”

Slamming the Centre, the TMC president said that they (BJP and Co) claim to revere Netaji but scrapped the Planning Commission, which was actually envisioned by Netaji Bose. Criticizing the Centre’s decision to announce January 23 as ‘Parakram Diwas’, the CM said, “I do not understand the meaning of ‘Parakram Diwas’.”

“We celebrate the day as ‘Deshnayak Diwas’,” Banerjee added. The TMC government has set up a committee to conduct year-long celebrations till January 23, 2022, all over the state.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

Modi arrived in the city at 3 pm afternoon. After that, he shared the stage with the CM and the governor.

Sharing the dais with Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to speak at the event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary after slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ were raised by fringe elements.

“This is a government programme and not a political programme. There has to be dignity. It does not behoove anybody to invite people and insult. I would not speak. Jai Bangla, Jai Hind,” Banerjee said after a section in the crowd raised slogans against her besides the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants.

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Abbas Siddiqui floats a new political party in poll-bound West Bengal

Abbas Siddiqui, a young and popular Muslim cleric in West Bengal, has floated a new political outfit, the Indian Secular Front, in the poll-bound state.

Siddiqui, who has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, recently held a meeting with Asaduddin Owaisi, leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM).

“The party has been formed so that everybody can enjoy social justice and constitutional democracy can be protected,” Siddiqui said at a program organized to launch his new party in Kolkata.

He is the scion of the Siddiqui family, which is the custodian of the famous Furfura Sharif shrine, one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in Bengal.

In recent months, he had accused the TMC of not doing enough for the minority community and using it as a vote bank instead.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

The TMC, however, has downplayed the event saying that it would not affect the ruling party’s vote bank in anyway.

“In every state, new players enter politics just before the elections. Abbas Siddiqui is a new player. But it is hard to do anything in just three months. He would not be able to do anything. If he manages to snatch even a single vote of the TMC it would help the BJP. Now he will have to decide whether it would in any way help the minority. We believe the minorities are with the TMC and will remain so,” said Saugata Roy, TMC MP.

Significantly, other members of the Siddiqui family, especially Toha Siddiqui, the most prominent among the elders and whose support had helped the CPI(M) and TMC in the past had criticized Abbas’ foray into politics and had even maintained silence on Owaisi’s visit.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

Furfura Sharif, whose custodian is the Siddiqui family, is built around the mausoleum of Pir Abu Bakr Siddiqui. It also has a mosque built in 1375. Furfura Sharif draws millions from across the country during the Urs festival and the annual fair dedicated to the Pir.

Bengal’s Muslim population stood at 27.01% during the 2011 census and is projected to have increased to around 30% now.

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Matua factor in election battle in Bengal: UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tours Bengal as BJP plays Hindu card

Keshav Prasad Maurya

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, on his second visit in about two weeks in an ideal opportunity in West Bengal, engaged with Matuas, a Dalit refugee group with origin in Bangladesh. The impact of this group is assumed to be spread in more than 50 assembly seats in the state. The visit was in preparation for the upcoming state election in West Bengal.

Matua – the Namasudras

Classified as a Scheduled Caste (SC), Matuas are Namasudras or lower caste Hindu refugees who have moved to West Bengal from neighbouring Bangladesh (earlier East Pakistan). The group has stayed in Bengal for quite a long time since the partition. They comprise the state’s second-biggest Scheduled Caste populace. Generally amassed in North and South 24 Parganas, & Howrah they are also spread across border regions like Nadia, Cooch Behar, North and South Dinajpur and Malda.

The Namasudras constitute 17.4 percent of the SC populace, the second biggest block in the state after the Rajbanshis in north Bengal. An Overwhelming majority of Bengal’s 1.8 crore SC populace (at 99.96%) are Hindus. Of its 42 Lok Sabha seats, Bengal has 10 seats held for Scheduled Castes of which BJP has stowed four – Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Bishnupur, and Bongaon in 2019. Understanding the importance of a saffron influence among SCs, the BJP has been striving to get its caste arithmetic directly into Bengal polity.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

 

Maurya visit

Maurya, an OBC leader, associated and connected with Matuas, additionally talked about the alleged neglect of Bangladeshi Hindu Community, who he claimed were denied citizenship rights because of vote bank concerns. This point was also stressed by the BJP men going with Maurya on his Bengal campaign.

The Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (Keshav Prasad Maurya) on his previous meeting had said that the BJP, after coming in West Bengal, will deal with the complaints of the Matuas who are refugees  holding influence in numerous seats in the election bound state.

Maurya said while addressing a meeting of leaders and supporters in Uluberia assembly segment, “When we structure our administration in West Bengal, we will re-establish the honour of Bangladeshi Hindus and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) could well assist to ensure that they get their due. The BJP under the Prime Minister has been doing a lot of things for poor people; however the advantages are not arriving at Bengal.”

Engaging with such a key vote bank chunk is indeed playing the Hindu card. It is clearly a part of BJP’s arrangement of engagement on religious-identity lines in West Bengal.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

 

Playing the caste card

In the 2017 UP polls, the BJP had focused on OBCs and Dalits to come to power in the most crowded state after 14 years. From that point onward, the BJP has kept on associating with OBCs and backward castes to hold onto its political strength.

“There is incredible demand for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s rallies in WB,” a senior BJP leader said. It has been suggested that Yogi will visit West Bengal soon. Different cadres from UP, committed to the party and its belief system, especially those who know Bengali language and culture would be consistently shipped off to West Bengal to build up an association with the electorate there through road corner meetings, another party leader added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set an objective for BJP winning 200 of the 294 assembly seats in West Bengal Vidhan Sabha. UP BJP representative Harish Chandra Srivastava, stated, “It is not at all an ambitious objective. In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll in West Bengal, we got 40% of the vote share, against 43 percent of the TMC, and stowed 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats.” In the 2016 Assembly election, the BJP had improved its vote share to 10.3 percent against 4.1 percent votes it got in the 2011 state polls. “In 2014 LS Poll, the BJP got 17 percent votes and won two seats as well. So the party’s graph  has been growing,” said Maluka Khanna,  a professor of political theory from Lucknow University.

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BJP needs to be stopped through alternative approach, said Sitaram Yechury

CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury asserted that verbal opposition is not enough to tackle BJP. He also said that the BJP has to be dealt with alternative policies and that is what the Left front wants to do. He accused the central government led by BJP and the state government led by TMC of trying to turn the upcoming West Bengal polls into a bipolar event between them. He also stated that there is difference between the stated intent and the deeds of the TMC-led state government.

The two-day state committee meeting of the CPM has started on Sunday at Alimuddin Street, Kolkata. There, the party’s state secretary Suryakanta Mishra said that the secular forces, including the Congress, had reached an understanding on the basis of programmes against the central and state governments. He added that this movement needs to be strengthened. He also admitted that there was some delay in the alliance process.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

The district representatives (CPM) gave their report at the meeting on how the programme to counter BJP and TMC is progressing in the districts. At the end of the first day’s meeting, Yechury explained on the occasion of the founding day of the party’s Bengali mouthpiece at Promod Dasgupta Bhaban that if the BJP is to be pushed hard in the country, it is necessary to stop them in West Bengal.

“In Bihar, the grand alliance (almost) lost to the NDA,” Yechury said. He added that some observers ask why there will not be a grand alliance (against BJP) in Bengal. But the situation, he added, varies from state to state. On the remote possibility of a grand alliance against the BJP, Yechury stated, “What has happened in Bihar is not possible in Bengal. In politics, two and two always do not make four, it can even be zero. “

Calling for the defeat of the BJP in all elections including the upcoming election in Bengal, the CPM general secretary said, “The goal of the RSS since 1925 is to create a fascist, Hindutva state. That is the goal they are pursuing now. There is no comparison of others with BJP-RSS combine.”

“It will be the fullest effort of both the BJP and the TMC to turn the West Bengal elections into a bipolar event,” Yechurry said at a programme at Kolkata to mark the 54th anniversary of Ganashakti, CPI(M)’s mouthpiece in West Bengal.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

“Alternate policies are required if they (BJP) are to be defeated politically,” Yechury said. He claimed that the main issues of people’s sufferings during the lockdown, joblessness, and economic distress are being deliberately shrouded by the Trinamool Congress and the saffron party to keep other parties at bay.

He said that the TMC in West Bengal is facing anti-incumbency and the displeasure of the people. He also said that an atmosphere of violence and hatred has been created in the state.

He accused both the saffron party and the Mamata Banerjee-led ruling party in the state of not providing succour to the people during difficult economic situation precipitated by the Covid19 pandemic. Yechury said that just as the BJP at the Centre has brought farm laws against the peasants’ interests, the TMC government is also not giving the declared minimum support price for paddy to the farmers.

He said that it is the Left parties that are agitating against the new farm laws in the farmers’ protests and against the amended labour laws in the country.

Yechury alleged that the goal of the BJP and the RSS is to destroy the constitution of the country and to create a fascist, fundamentalist, and Hindu nation. He claimed that the new symbols of this goal are Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the new Parliament building, signifying a new India of their making. The CPM General Secretary said that in order to maintain a democratic and secular system, it is essential and imperative to keep the BJP away from power and defeat it in the elections.

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Forward bloc’s idea of all non-BJP parties sharing stage with TMC on the Birth Anniversary of Netaji has perplexed the Left front

The initiative taken by the Forward Bloc to include leftist parties and individuals in the same programme with the Trinamool Congress on January 23 on the occasion of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s 125th birthday has generated a sense of perplexity for the Left and has raised new questions. A section of the political establishment is beginning to see the Forward Bloc initiative ahead of the Assembly polls as an attempt to bring the anti-BJP secular forces under one umbrella.

As a result, several leftist parties, including the CPM, do not want to take any risk in this regard. At a recent meeting of the Left Front parties, the Forward Bloc leadership was asked to consider alternatives to the programme.

However, the Forward Bloc is still adamant over this approach of unison (of non-BJP forces) to the programme. However, in this situation, they are going to hold bilateral talks with the CPM. According to a source in the Front, the Netaji Janmajayanti Committee of the party has planned several programmes this year on the occasion of the 125th birthday of Subhash Chandra Bose.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Recently the committee has been further expanded to include representatives of non-BJP parties. Leaders of all non-BJP parties, (in West Bengal) including the Trinamool Congress and the CPM, were present at the meeting. Later, the issue of joining the ruling party in the state on one platform was brought at the centre of attention in the political arena and discussion. As a result, the left parties now want to walk the path of change. Politically speaking, to the Left front, the matter is now somewhat akin to allying with arch-rival and enemy. The front is caught in a catch 22 situation.

Left leaders feel that if Biman Basu and Suryakant Mishra walked side by side in the procession with the Partha Chatterjee on January 23, a wrong message could be sent to the people before the vote. At a recently held meeting, the front’s allied leaders asked Naren Chatterjee, the state secretary of the Forward Bloc, and Hafiz Alam Sairani, another top leader in the party, to change their minds.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

Some observers have noted that many may apparently consider the initiative apolitical. But when political leaders step together, it is no longer apolitical. Past experience speaks for itself. Therefore, left leaders including Biman Basu and Suryakanta Mishra have appealed to the Forward Bloc to think of alternatives.

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Folk singer caught in the tug of war between the TMC and BJP

tmc and bjp

Days after the home minster Amit Shah had lunch at his humble home at Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, folk singer Basudeb Das Baul has been caught in a tug of war between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Shah, who was on a two-day tour of West Bengal, took a chopper ride to Bolpur on December 20 to visit Visva Bharati, the state’s only Central university set up by Rabindranath Tagore and also led a BJP rally. In between, the two programmes, Shah had home-cooked lunch at the singer’s home and also enjoyed his music.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

On Tuesday evening, Das was spotted at the office of the TMC district president Anubrata Mondal. Das complained before the local media that he was not given an opportunity to talk to Shah and seek a job or higher education facilities for his daughter.

“After Shah left, nobody from the BJP bothered to talk to me although they came to me with the request to host the lunch. I did all the shopping. They only bought the sweets served that day,” said Das. “I am under no pressure from the TMC. I came to Mondal voluntarily,” he added. This shows that BJP only comes in to fuel its political agenda while TMC atleast cares for the people in terms of welfare.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

“I have told the education cell of our party to ensure that the singer’s daughter gets admission to the bachelor of education course. Shah’s visit to his home was nothing but a drama,” said Mondal.

The BJP jumped into the fray without wasting time. Anupam Hazra, who was the TMC’s Lok Sabha member from Bolpur before joining the BJP in 2019, posted a note on social media along with his photograph with Das. “How come nobody bothered to inquire about this family in 10 years? After Shah visited their home, everybody is suddenly showing concern,” said Hazra who had accompanied Shah. Das is the third person in Bengal who got caught in political crossfire for playing host to Shah.

On November 5, Shah had lunch at the home of Bibhishan Hansda, a member of the tribal community at Chaturdihi village in Bankura district. A day later, chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged in public that the food was cooked by a Brahmin brought from outside. She also alleged during the same speech that the food was brought from a “five-star hotel”. TMC’s top leaders had even accused Shah of playing caste politics.

Leaders from the TMC and the BJP, as well as officers from the district administration, called on Hansda with the offer to get the best treatment for his teenage daughter Rachana who is suffering from diabetes.

TMC leaders also claimed that Hansda, a marginal farmer, had always been a party supporter but the tribal man claimed to be an apolitical person with no connection with either of the parties. “I am not part of any organization. If anyone takes pity and offers to help I will accept it but it should not be part of politics,” Hansda had said last month.

Significantly, when Shah was having lunch at Hansda’s home, the TMC government had made a surprise move at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district.

Gita Mahali, the poor tribal woman who had played host to Shah and cooked lunch for him during a similar visit in April 2017, was appointed as special home guard at Naxalbari police station. She was given an appointment letter. Ranjan Sarkar, the TMC district president said that the government came forward as the BJP did nothing for the Mahalis in three years. The chief minister also announced that the government will form separate organizations to look after the welfare of backward caste communities.

Referring to Shah’s visit to the folk singer’s home in Bolpur, education minister Partha Chatterjee on Wednesday said, “Shah heard his song but did not listen to his man ki baat. Only Mamata Banerjee is concerned about the people of Bengal.”

The folk singer said that he will be present at the TMC roadshow that the chief minister will lead in Bolpur town on December 29. It will start from the Dakbungalow Road intersection from where Shah’s roadshow was flagged off on Sunday.

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Rajib Banerjee highlighted that there is difference between his and Suvendu’s cases in the party

State minister of forest affairs, Rajib Banerjee said that his circumstance in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was not equivalent to that of Suvendu Adhikari. While Adhikari joined BJP, Banerjee, who had likewise criticized the TMC as of late, met senior party leader Partha Chatterjee.

Surprisingly, four ministers were missing from a cabinet meeting called by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, raising doubts over the possibility of yet more Trinamool leaders switching political camps ahead of next year’s Assembly election. Partha Chatterjee, the Secretary-General of the TMC, said that out of the four, three offered perfectly valid explanations. Rajib Banerjee, the fourth, remained incommunicado till late in the evening.

Among various rebels and disgruntled leaders like Adhikari in TMC, Kanishka Panda was expelled from the party for anti-party activities. Panda was secretary of the TMC unit in the East Midnapore area where the Adhikari family represents two Lok Sabha seats, an assembly seat, and heads an urban body. TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee and election strategist Prashant Kishor had held a 60 minutes meeting with the forest minister Banerjee at Chatterjee’s residence at Naktala in south Kolkata. While Chatterjee stayed quiet about the meeting, Banerjee asserted that the discussions covered “political strategy.”

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Leaders close to the minister, however, said that he raised issues, for example, corruption and nepotism by certain leaders in the Howrah area, where Banerjee represents the Domjur assembly seat while conversing with Chatterjee and Kishor.

Rajib Banerjee said, “I attended the meeting as a party worker. We examined procedure for the coming days. I cannot impart much else to the media. In a gathering, there can be disappointed individuals and there can be individuals who are over-satisfied. These things are figured out through discussion. I will be accessible on the off chance that I am called for additional discussions.” The forest minister further added, “My case is not equivalent to that of Suvendu Adhikari. We are two separate people and we have separate perspectives. Our circumstances cannot be analyzed or compared.”

Banners supporting Rajib Banerjee and Adhikari have been showing up across West Bengal, including Kolkata, since last month, stoking speculation that the two famous and comparatively younger leaders, may leave the TMC. Eventually, Adhikari did leave TMC and joined BJP which further triggered the speculation about the future of Rajib Banerjee in TMC. In this regard, posters with pictures of Banerjee and the words, “symbol of honesty ” written in Bengali, showed up in Howrah.

Also see: Battleground of Bengal election 2021

Making things tough for the party, Mihir Goswami, the legislator from the Cooch Behar South constituency in north Bengal, recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while Shilbhadra Datta, TMC MLA from Barrackpore assembly constituency  in North 24 Parganas, has tendered his resignation from the party and switched over to BJP. Goswami and Dutta had recently spoken in public against deploying I-PAC, Kishor’s organization, and working on its recommendations. Senior TMC leaders had revealed a month ago that Adhikari was explicitly discontent with organizational decision taken by Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and Kishor, who was roped in after the BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.

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Suvendu Adhikari with other leaders from TMC joined into BJP at the Midnapore rally of Amit Shah

Bringing an end to the long-running grapevine generating speculations looming over his political career, ex-TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari joined BJP as he took up the saffron flag from the hands of Amit Shah. Adhikari was introduced to BJP with a thunderous applaud from the huge crowd present at Shah’s rally in Midnapore collegiate ground.

Adhikari, the former Minister of Transport, Irrigation, and Water resource in Government of West Bengal, has taken with him a total of more than 40 TMC leaders to the BJP.

Nine MLAs, 6 from TMC, one from CPIM, one from CPI, and one from the INC joined BJP. One sitting and a former TMC MP also defected to the saffron hindutva camp. The following are the names of the leaders who switched loyalty: Banasree Maity- Contai North MLA (TMC), Tapasi Mondal- Haldiya purba MLA(CPIM), Ashok dinda-Tamluk MLA (CPI), Sudip Mukherjee-Purulia(INC), Biswajit Kundu-Kalna(TMC), Saikat Panja- Burdwan Purba(TMC), Shilbhadra Dutta-Barrackpore(TMC), Dipali Biswas- Gajol Maldah (TMC), Sukra Munda- Nagarkata, Jalpaiguri(TMC).

The MP of Burdwan Purba, Sunil Mondal followed the suit, kept his allegiance to Adhikari and joined into BJP. SP Mukherjee, an ex parliamentarian had travelled to the venue of the mega-rally at Midnapore from the guest house in Kolaghat, where all the defecting leaders from TMC had gathered. Some other prominent faces in TMC who switched sides to BJP were Col. Diptangshu Chaudhury, Ashish Dutta, and Bappa Majumdar from Alipurduar, Kartik Pal and Prafulla Barman from Uttar Dinajpur, former MLAs in Dakshin Dinajpur-Satyen Ray & Debashish Majumdar and others.

Since the ground-level support for TMC was bolstered by the efforts and organization of Suvendu Adhikari, and as his supporters are spread across almost all districts in West Bengal, this shift of Adhikari and others to BJP can impact the election. But, the TMC has maintained that it would not have that much effect on the upcoming state assembly elections. The confidence of TMC reflects the support that the party would get from other non- BJP parties like NCP.

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Suvendu Adhikari formally resigned as an MLA of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly

Suvendu Adhikari

Rebel leader in Trinamool Congress and Minister Suvendu Adhikari formally resigned as an MLA of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. Disgruntled with the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, Adhikari had resigned from the state cabinet last month.

The MLA of Nandigram constituency in Purba Medinipur district said in a letter to the Speaker, “I hereby tender my resignation as a member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Steps may be taken for its immediate acceptance.”  Suvendu Adhikari was the key man behind Mamata Banerjee’s movement in Nandigram in East Midnapore in 2007 which helped her oust the 34-year Left Front rule in Bengal.

According to the sources close to him, Adhikari is likely to resign from the party’s primary membership within a day or two and is expected to cross over to the saffron camp later this week. His induction is likely to happen during Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state later this week. Adhikari is expected to travel to Delhi before switching sides. He is also expected to be given security by the Union home ministry, formalities for which are currently in process.

Also see: West Bengal election 2021- battleground for TMC and BJP

BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy hailed Adhikari’s decision and said that the saffron party would welcome him with open arms. “The day Suvendu Adhikari had resigned from the state cabinet, I had said I would be happy if he leaves the TMC and join the BJP. Today he has resigned as MLA, and I welcome his decision,” Roy said.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh also lauded Adhikari’s decision and said that the BJP would be happy to welcome him. Efforts by veteran TMC leaders like Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandopadhyay for reconciliation had failed to placate Adhikari.

Before quitting as the minister for transport and irrigation, Adhikari had been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and had not been attending state cabinet meetings.

TMC has already decided that it will not take any further initiative to convince the disgruntled Adhikari to remain in the party.  Reacting to the development, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said, “it’s a good relief”. Kalyan Banerjee also added, “It’s a good relief that he has resigned from the post of MLA. He is overambitious and wants to join BJP as he wants to become the next CM or deputy CM. He can go ahead, we are confident of winning the next assembly polls under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.”

For the last few months, Adhikari was seen addressing rallies without using TMC symbols and flags. In all the rallies, a sea of people claiming to be part of ‘Amra Dadar Anugami’ (elder brother’s followers) was seen marching behind Adhikari.

On December 2, he reportedly had expressed his dismay through a WhatsApp message to party MP Saugata Roy over details of the meeting (to resolve the differences between him and the party) being leaked to the media claiming that all the ‘issues’ were resolved. Adhikari, in his message, mentioned that he was supposed to address the media on December 6 but he did not like the way details of the meeting were shared with journalists before his scheduled press conference.