Dinesh Trivedi recently resigned from Rajya Sabha, where he was a member of Trinamool.
New Delhi:
Former Railways Minister and Deputy of the Trinamool Congress, Dinesh Trivedi, joined the BJP today, the latest in a long list of such defections in recent months. The 70-year-old’s turnaround, of course, comes just weeks before the West Bengal Assembly elections, the run-up of which is already witnessing a bitter battle of attrition between the two political parties.
“This was the golden moment I had been waiting for,” Trivedi said today after joining the BJP at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal.
He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said Bengal is capable. “There is violence, corruption and terror in Bengal. Bengal is a land of culture. Bengal is a pride for us and we imagine Sound bangla. Today, the people of Bengal are happy for a real transformation, “he said.
Welcoming him, BJP chief JP Nadda said he was “the right person in the wrong party. Now he is in the right party.”
“Trivedi has a long experience in politics. He has gone on an ideological journey and has fought for ideologies that keep power separate. It is like flowing water and only the BJP can unite people of different ideologies,” said Nadda.
Trivedi resigned his membership in Rajya Sabha and Trinamool on February 12, saying he felt “suffocated” by the violence in West Bengal and his inability to do anything about it. The party had sent him to the Upper House after he lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
“In Bengal, we talk about icons and their ideals, but what we see is the opposite. The (TMC) model of violence and corruption is not what Bengal represents. This model will lead Bengal to dark days. The state has so much potential and not we can just let it go to waste, “Mr. Trivedi had told PTI.
In recent weeks, several current and former Trinamool members have reached out to the BJP. Former Rajya Sabha deputy from the party, actor Mithun Chakraborty, is expected to share the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow at a rally in Kolkata. However, it is not yet clear whether he will join the party or campaign.
Among those who have moved from Trinamool to the BJP are sitting MPs, ministers of state, MLA, senior officials and leaders, as well as scores of grassroots workers. This includes Trinamool fans like Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee.
The state election will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29, the results of which will be announced on May 2.
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