The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal is in a state of political turmoil, with several heavyweight lawmakers deserting the party. A long list of TMC leaders, along with 4 others from the Left and Congress, joined the BJP, in the presence of BJP leader Amit Shah in Midnapore.
Ending days of speculation, former minister Suvendu Adhikari finally joined BJP today in presence of Amit Shah at the rally in Midnapore. Several MLAs and party leaders from TMC, Congress and left parties joined BJP along with Adhikari. The major leaders who joined BJP in West Bengal are:
- Burdwan Purba MP Sunil Mandal, TMC
- Former minister and Tamluk MLA Suvendu Adhikari, TMC
- Kanthi Uttar MLA Banasri Maity, TMC
- Kalna MLA Biswajeet Kundu, TMC
- East Bardhaman MLA Saikat Panja, TMC
- Barrackpore MLA Shilbhadra Datta, TMC
- Ghazole MLA Dipali Biswas, TMC
- Nagrakata MLA Shukra Munda, TMC
- Tamluk MLA Ashok Dinda, CPI
- Haldia MLA Tapashi Mandal, CPIM
- Purulia MLA Sudeep Mukherjee, Congress
- Former MP Dasharath Tirkey, TMC
- Ex minister Shyamapada Mukherjee, TMC
- Former MLA Satyen Roy, TMC
Apart from these, several panchayat-level lawmakers and ardent followers of TMC MLA Suvendu Adhikary are also joining BJP. They include Kaberi Chattopadhyay, Snehashish Bhowmik, Akashdeep Singh, Tanmoy Roy, Ranjan Vaidya, Dev Mohapatra and Sukumar Das. The saffron party will also be joined by Congress leaders such as Sudip Kumar Mukherjee and Sanmay Banerjee.
Former vice chancellor of Gour Banga university Gopal Mishra also joined BJP today. A large number of politicians from TMC and other parties also joined the party.
Several senior TMC leaders have resigned from TMC
After the top TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari submitted his resignation on December 16 following a prolonged discontentment with the party, a string of party leaders submitted their resignations within the last 72 hours. The TMC leaders who have submitted resignations from the party include Silbhadra Datta, TMC MLA from Barrackpore Assembly constituency, Col. (Rtd) Diptangshu Chaudhary who resigned as the Advisor of the CMO’s Grievance and Monitoring Cell, Asansol MLA Jitendra Tiwari resigned as the Chairman of Board of Administrators of Asansol Municipal Corporation, Abhijit Acharya quit as the Vice-President of Paschim Bardhaman.
West Bengal BJP Vice-President Arjun Singh had claimed earlier today that 60-65 leaders are likely to quit the TMC by January 2021. Several TMC leaders including Suvendu Adhikari are speculated to join the BJP during Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state on December 19.
Amit Shah lands in West Bengal
Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata early in the morning today on his two-day visit to West Bengal. Shah will be taking stock of the situation in the State ahead of the State Assembly elections due next year. He is scheduled to address a public meeting in Midnapore today. The Home Minister visited the Ramakrishna Ashram, paid homage to revolutionary Khudiram Bose, visited the Siddheswari temple, and had lunch at the house of a farmer in Midnapore.
