Former Cabinet Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Heavyweight Legislator Suvendu Adhikari is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during Union Interior Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the forced-to-vote state. At the end of the week.
Adhikari aides and BJP leaders told HT that the decks are being cleared for their formal incorporation. There have been strong rumors that he would switch to the saffron field since he challenged TMC’s leadership last month and the peace talks failed to bridge the gap.
Shah will be in Bengal on December 19-20. He will address rallies in at least three districts, including East Midnapore, where Adhikari, his father and two brothers represent two Lok Sabha constituencies and one seat in the assembly. They also run the civic body in Contai, their hometown. Adhikari is elected from the Nandigram bench.
“So far it has been decided that neither Shah nor the party chairman JP Nadda will hand over the party flag to Adhikari in public for incorporation into the BJP. This formality will be carried out by the President of the Bengal BJP, Dilip Ghosh, or by some high-level national leader, ”a state BJP leader told HT on Tuesday afternoon. Ghosh did not comment on this.
The 50-year-old TMC rebel leader, who resigned from the cabinet last month and resigned two administrative posts, plans to visit Delhi on Thursday to speak with the national BJP leadership.
Top TMC leaders said privately that Adhikari is specifically unhappy with Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, and election strategist Prashant Kishor, who was cornered by the prime minister after the BJP won 18 of Lok’s 42 seats. Sabha of the state in 2019.
Adhikari made important remarks on a non-political program Tuesday morning. “Those who insulted me will suffer the same fate as Anil Basu, Benoy Konar and Laxman Seth when people cast their vote in a few months,” Adhikari said. The three CPI (M) leaders he mentioned also faced electoral defeats and disciplinary actions.
“It must be remembered that the agitation for the land in Nandigram was a popular movement and not that of an individual or any party,” Adhikari said at the program held to pay tribute to prominent freedom fighter Satish Samanta.
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His statement was significant because it was Adhikari who led the agitation against land acquisition that began after 14 villagers were killed in police shootings at Nandigram on March 14, 2007. The earthwork, which was carried out under the banner of the The Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), an anti-land acquisition platform that even the Maoists secretly supported, helped Banerjee overthrow the Left Front government.
“Adhikari will announce himself when he joins the BJP. TMC and Prashant Kishor will soon witness many more joining the saffron field due to the policies the ruling party is following, ”said Kanishka Panda, an aide to Adhikari who was expelled from TMC two days ago. He was the general secretary of TMC in East Midnapore.
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The followers of Suvendu Adhikari are chosen from various segments of the assembly, not only in East Midnapore, but also in other districts. He was the TMC election observer in several districts, including Murshidabad, where Muslims are in the majority.
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