NEW DELHI: Suvendu Adhikari, the former Trinamool heavyweight, on Saturday ended all suspense over his future plans and began a new entry into Bengal politics with the BJP.
The former Bengal minister who left a mark during the Nandigram movement and held several important portfolios under the chairmanship of Minister Mamata Banerjee, shared the stage with the Union Minister of the Interior, Amit Shah, and vowed to end TMC’s rule in the 2021 assembly elections.
Suvendu unleashed a volley at Mamata and also attacked his nephew Abhishek Banerjee, calling him an “extortionist”.
Amit Shah’s mega rally in the Paschim Medinipur district saw several Trinamool leaders switch sides to the BJP. The list included 5 MLAs from Trinamool, two-time TMC MP from Bardhaman Purba Lok Sabha Sunil Mondal constituency and former TMC MP Dasarth Tirkey.
TMC Downplays Development, Says Party Now ‘Virus Free’
For Mamata, the loss of so many leaders at once can be significant. However, his party was brave.
Trinamool leader and former minister Madan Mitra said the party will host a “grand gala” to express gratitude to “traitors” whose departure has ensured that the party is “virus-free.”
“Now the challenge is simple. There will be no intermediaries between the BJP and Trinamool, now it will be a direct fight. It will be a gala night for the Trinamool workers to enjoy. Today there are no traitors, there are no paper tigers.” Mitra added.
Despite these claims, the loss of Suvendu will definitely worry Mamata and Trinamool as they prepare for the assembly elections.
The Adhikari family wields considerable influence in at least 40 to 45 assembly segments in Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram, parts of Birbhum, mainly in the Junglemahal region, and areas in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district.
Suvendu’s father, Sisir Adhikari, and brother Dibyendu, are TMC MPs from the Tamluk and Kanthi Lok Sabha constituencies, respectively, and are with the party for now.
Suvendu praises PM, Amit Shah
The reins of West Bengal must be handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for economic revival, Suvendu said at the Midnapore rally on Saturday.
“The economic situation in West Bengal is very bad. If the state is to be saved, it is necessary to hand over his reins to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
Adhikari, to whom the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah presented the BJP flag, praised the administrative and political acumen of the former BJP chief.
He touched Shah’s feet to seek his blessings, who in turn hugged him.
“When I was with Covid, my former party did not ask about my health, while Amit Shah asked twice how I was,” he said, addressing the rally.
“The BJP, which is the largest political party in the world, speaks of nationalism and pluralism. West Bengal is not a personal fiefdom of any political party. And the TMC speaks of internal and external to divide the people. How dare they to call Amit Shah Ji, Kailash Vijayvargiya, outsiders? We are all Indians, “he said.
“It is an embarrassment to the TMC for such a narrow policy,” the leader said as the crowd roared.
Suvendu’s open letter to TMC workers
In an open letter to Trinamool workers, Suvendu said that “extremely deep rot and malaise” had settled in the Trinamool Congress.
He released his open letter hours before sharing the stage with Amit Shah in Midnapore.
“Neither West Bengal nor the Trinamool Congress is anyone’s fiefdom,” Adhikari said, adding that the party was not built in a day or with the contribution of one person.
Suvendu, who was unhappy with the organizational changes at Trinamool, criticized Mamata for giving election strategist Prashant Kishor a free hand on party affairs.
“The very people, behind whose backs the party was created, are now being marginalized, humiliated and marginalized. Instead, people have now hired outside help, people without knowledge of the basic realities and without knowledge of sacrifice. En we need to work towards a shared goal as ambitious as creating the West Bengal of our dreams, “he said.
Adhikari accused the TMC, with whom he had ended his relationship of two decades ago two days ago, of being a party of traitors, who had forgotten the role that the BJP played during its formation in 1998.
“I am called a traitor by those (TMC leaders) who are themselves traitors. If the BJP had not been there, the TMC would never have existed. If TMC had not received the blessings of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, none of the leaders of TMC would have dared to leave their homes in the next assembly elections, ”he said.
“Tolabaaj bhaipo hathao (get rid of the extortionist nephew),” Adhikari said.
Amit Shah takes a look at Mamata
With a battery of TMC leaders switching sides, Union Interior Minister Amit Shah criticized Mamata, saying: “The way the leaders are deserting from their party, when the elections are held, Mamata Banerjee will she will be alone in the TMC “.
“When the people of Bengal are rallying behind the BJP to transform the state, why are they concerned? This is just the beginning. These people are leaving their party voluntarily,” he added.
Shah said leaders and workers of rival political parties are joining the BJP because of the TMC’s “policy of appeasement and nepotism.”
“Good people from Congress, Trinamool, CPM … all under the leadership of Suvendu Bhai, have joined the BJP today to work under the leadership of Narendra Modi Ji,” he said.
Mocking Banerjee’s claim that the BJP was trying to engineer defections in his party, Shah wondered whether forming the TMC after leaving Congress in 1998 was not defection.
The TMC slogan of “Maa, Mati, Manush” (mother, fatherland and people) has been reduced to “extortion, corruption and nepotism,” Shah said, and exudes confidence that the BJP will form the next government in the state earning more. 200 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly.
(With inputs from agencies)
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