December 18, 2020 4:38:53 am
Several TMC rebel leaders and MLAs will join the BJP along with Suvendu in a public meeting chaired by Interior Minister Amit Shah in Medinipur over the weekend, sources said. The rest are likely to wait and watch for now.
Former West Bengal Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the Trinamool Congress, taking the step that is likely to open the floodgates for an exodus from TMC to BJP on multiple levels across the state.
About a dozen TMC MLAs and heads of elected bodies are believed to be preparing to resign and walk with Suvendu to the BJP.
Jitendra Tiwari, Pandabeswar MLA and chairman of TMC’s Paschim Bardhaman district unit, resigned from all positions in the party on Thursday.
Suvendu’s supporters claimed that they were in contact with nearly 50 TMC MLAs and many leaders of the party organization, not only from its strongholds in Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur, but also from Hooghly and Burdwan.
Several TMC rebel leaders and MLAs will join the BJP along with Suvendu in a public meeting chaired by Interior Minister Amit Shah in Medinipur over the weekend, sources said. The rest are likely to wait and watch for now.
In his short letter of resignation dated December 16, addressed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu said he was “grateful for all the challenges and opportunities that have been provided to me.” Suvendu was a member of the party’s steering committee and state committee, and the leader of its union front. Last month, he had left the cabinet where he occupied three important departments.
Tiwari, who resigned as chairman of the Asansol Municipal Corporation board of directors, said he could not remain in office after Asansol was deprived of development works. He then resigned from all his TMC positions and claimed that his MLA office in Pandabeswar had been vandalized on the orders of a party leader in Kolkata.
Tiwari, a former chairman of Asansol Corporation, had recently written to Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, accusing the government of blocking Rs 2 billion of core funds for the smart city project. TMC leaders met with him in Kolkata on Tuesday, but Tiwari endorsed Suvendu in a public meeting the next day. Banerjee called him the same day and a meeting was set for December 18.
After submitting his resignation as an MLA to the president on Wednesday, Suvendu had gone to the residence of Sunil Mondal, Bardhaman Purba’s TMC deputy. In addition to Mondal and Tiwari, several other TMC and MLA leaders were present there, including Biswajit Kundu, the two-time MLA from Kalna in the Purba Bardhaman district, and Colonel Diptangshu Chowdhury, president of the South Bengal State Transport Corporation.
“Suvendu Adhikari’s treatment is something that many of us have suffered. It is painful to leave a party that you have served at for 22 years, ”Kundu told The Indian Express. “BJP is not in power in Bengal; at this time they cannot offer us anything. It is not because of posts or greed that someone joins BJP. It is because our party has chosen to ignore honest leaders, ”he said.
“We are in contact with 50 MLA, some of whom would join the BJP with Suvendu Adhikari,” Kundu said, but declined to name names. “This is apart from the district presidents, block presidents, presidents and councilors of municipalities, who have begun to resign,” he said.
Both Kundu and Mondal mentioned a specific complaint against political strategist Prashant Kishor, who is advising Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly election.
“Our group spent millions of rupees to bring in PK (Prashant Kishor). He elected heads of organization in my constituency who do not have a clean record and are not liked by the people. People like us were marginalized. But he seems to know more than we do. So what does the party need me for? Kundu said.
Mondal said: “There is anger because this is reality. We become an MLA or MP through politics. Prashant Kishor did not appoint us MLA or MP. The party cannot function this way. “
Saikat Panja, the Manteswar TMC MLA in Purba Bardhaman district who learned to be in contact with Suvendu, said: “A member of the Prashant Kishor team has spoken to me, but I am not satisfied. I have not decided to leave the party yet, but I will remain politically inactive until my problems are resolved, ”Panja told The Indian Express.
Shilbhadra Dutta, Barrackpore’s two-term TMC MLA in North 24-Parganas district, declined to speak to Kishor’s team about his candidacy for the Assembly elections. Dutta did not accept phone calls from The Indian Express.
At a lower level, six TMC area presidents have resigned from the party in the Bamangola community bloc of Murshidabad district. A vice president of the local civic body in Dankuni Hooghly district and the president of TMC’s women’s unit in Haldia in East Midnapore district have also resigned.
BJP State President and Medinipur MP Dilip Ghosh predicted that “the house of TMC will fall like a house of cards.” However, Asansol party deputy Babul Supriyo expressed some reservations about Jitendra Tiwari.
“Many BJP workers at Asansol were interrupted by TMC thugs whose leader was Jitendra Tiwari. I can’t betray the BJP workers, ”Supriyo said. In response, Tiwari admitted that he indeed did “a lot of things then” and could not “deny my responsibility.” He said he would speak to Supriyo.
Top TMC leaders sought to put on a brave face. Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee said: “Have a good trip to Suvendu. Better to have an empty barn than a naughty cow. “
TMC veteran leader Subrata Mukherjee said: “There are thousands of leaders and workers in the party. If one or two or more leaders decide to resign, it will have no effect at all. Nobody is bigger than the party. “
Since Suvendu escalated his rebellion, several other leaders and MLA, including the Minister of Forests, Rajib Banerjee, have publicly voiced their grievances against the party. However, for now they have calmed down and, according to sources, they have no immediate plans to march.
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