Calcutta: In a new twist to Bengal’s rapid political changes, Bishnupur MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the wife of youth wing chief Saumitra Khan joined Mamata Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Monday afternoon. .
This was a surprise as Sujata Mondal Khan had been very active in the BJP. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it was she who led her husband’s campaign as the court barred Saumitra from entering six of the seven assembly segments within her parliamentary constituency due to ongoing investigations into cases. criminal charges that allegedly involved him.
Saumitra, who had served as TMC’s youth wing president for about six months, was an acting TMC MP when he joined the BJP in January 2019, obtained the BJP ticket from the same constituency and defeated the TMC candidate. .
On Monday, Sujata Mondal Khan criticized the BJP leadership for attracting TMC leaders with prominent positions.
“Those who shed sweat and blood for the party in its difficult times are not being rewarded, while the opportunistic defenders of the TMC fence are being drawn to the top positions, including those of chief ministers and deputy prime minister. There are already six candidates for ministerial chiefs and 13 deputy prime ministers, ”he said, while addressing the media at the headquarters of the TMC state unit.
He sat next to TMC Lok Sabha MP Sougata Roy, and faced Suvendu Adhikari, the former TMC heavyweight who recently joined the BJP and received a great welcome.
“How is it possible that all the rotten elements of the TMC are purified once they enter the BJP? The BJP has become TMC’s B-team and therefore I decided to work with the TMC instead of their B-team, ”she said, adding that she hopes that one day her husband will follow her as well.
It appeared his move was unknown even to the MP, as Saumitra Khan hastily held a press conference and said she would file for divorce on Tuesday. He urged her to sign the papers so that the separation could take place by mutual agreement.
“The TMC played very unfairly. They broke my house, ”Saumitra said. “I wanted positions in the party, but there is no dynasty policy in the BJP. You cannot deny her contributions behind my victory, but it was not her alone, the BJP organization and the name of Prime Minister Modi sealed my victory.
“You could have been happy being the deputy’s wife. It’s true that I couldn’t give you time for the past few months. I wish you the best in achieving your aspirations. I have no more luggage. I will give my full time to the party, ”he said.
It’s not just one time
The Sujata case, however, is not an isolated case of internal dissent in the BJP over newcomers to the party.
A few hours before she appeared at the TMC state unit office in Calcutta, veterans and newcomers from the BJP got into a fight in Durgapur, in the West Burdwan district, just before the head of the Party state unit, Dilip Ghosh, will enter new party members at a Jogdaan Mela (join the festival).
“All the corrupt and rotten people are joining the party from the TMC. They will enjoy importance and we, who fought in the TMC for so long, will have to become deputies, ”said a man who identified himself as the president of district no. Durgapur 13 told TV channels.
Earlier last week, when rumors spread that TMC’s West Burdwan District Unit Chairman and outgoing Pandaveshwar MLA-cum-Asansol Mayor Jitendra Tiwari were joining the BJP along with Suvendu Adhikari, the Union minister and Asansol deputy Babul Supriyo publicly expressed their objections. He also received the endorsement of Dilip Ghosh.
Tiwari, who had held a meeting with Adhikari, defying Mamata Banerjee and resigned from all TMC positions, sulked and said she would seek her forgiveness.
Protests have broken out among BJP workers in Bishnupur (Bankura district) against the incorporation of former TMC minister and municipal president Syamaprasad Mukherjee; in different places in Alipurduar against the incorporation of former TMC deputy Dasharath Tirkey; and in Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district against the induction of TMC MLA Sukra Munda sitting.
In Alipurduar, BJP workers even burned an effigy of Tirkey and elsewhere his photo was adorned with shoes.
Last week, posters and banners also appeared in Gaighata in the northern districts of 24-Parganas, where two controversial and influential TMC leaders recently left the party and are expected to join the BJP. The posters, posted in the name of the ‘original BJP workers’, accused the party of recruiting corrupt leaders with a bad reputation.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a leader of the Malda district unit of the BJP said there are apprehensions among a section of BJP veterans in the district that they might have to accept some TMC leaders in higher positions.
“A few days ago, the president of the state unit, Dilip Ghosh, told the district leaders that we will have to prepare to accommodate more TMC leaders. Since then, a part of our leaders and workers at the district level have been anxious, ”said the leader.
Ghosh played down those grievances. “We believe that a large family is a happy family. We will have to widen our hearts to welcome those who decide to join the battle to overthrow the government of Mamata Banerjee. Minor differences will be fixed, ”he said.
A leader of the BJP state unit said the party’s national chairman, Jagat Prakash Nadda, has already warned state leaders of a possible rebellion.
“Newcomers like Saumitra Khan, Arjun Singh and Nishith Pramanik won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while veterans like Rahul Sinha and Samik Bhattacharya lost. There is no way this internal dissent can stop us from inducing more TMC heavyweights, ”said a BJP deputy Lok Sabha.
A TMC leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the party would be happy to exploit differences in the BJP. “Just as they are trying to exploit grievances within our party to engineer defections, we too would closely watch the reaction of the BJP leaders on bringing in our leaders with the promise of prominent positions,” said the TMC leader.
Another TMC leader said that the Jitendra Tiwari case has led some TMC leaders, who were considering changing camps, to think twice.
Meanwhile, TMC’s state unit spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya wrote on Facebook that two BJP MPs were expected to join the TMC, a claim that the BJP was allegedly a rumor-spreading ploy.
However, political observer Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, former head of the Presidency College in Kolkata, believes that the BJP should be able to manage internal dissent.
“I think the top leaders of the BJP are aware of this possible problem and should have planned measures,” Mukhopadhyay said.
The BJP has brought in a significant number of TMC state and district leaders in the past two years, and those who joined the saffron party from the TMC are, in many cases, enjoying important positions in the BJP.
Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based journalist and author.
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