5 rebel Trinamool leaders meet Amit Shah, join BJP
The BJP had flown the rebel leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to Delhi in a chartered plane earlier in the day.
Five rebel leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after they met Union home minister Amit Shah at his house in the national capital. This is the latest round of defections from the eastern state's ruling party ahead of the assembly elections scheduled to be held in April-May this year. The BJP had flown the rebel TMC leaders, including former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee, Baishali Dalmiya, former Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty and actor Rudranil Ghosh, to Delhi in a chartered plane earlier in the day.
"Former TMC leaders Mr. Rajib Banerjee, Ms. Baishali Dalmiya, Mr. Prabir Ghoshal, Mr. Rathin Chakraborti and Mr. Rudranil Ghosh joined BJP today in New Delhi. I am sure their induction will further strengthen BJP’s fight for Sonar Bangla," Shah tweeted.
"People are realising only the BJP can do development here. TMC workers and the people of Bengal are realising the TMC has only swindled people till now. We hope that under the leadership of PM Modi, the BJP will constitute a government here and make 'Sonar Bangla' come true," senior BJP leader Kailash Vijaywargiya was quoted as saying by news agency ANI after the five joined his party.
Banerjee had resigned from the Domjur assembly seat in Howrah on Friday; Dalmiya is the sitting MLA from Bally in Howrah and who was expelled by the TMC recently; Prabir Ghosal is the MLA from Uttarpara in Hooghly district; Rathin Chakraborty is the former mayor of Howrah town and Ghosh, who recently started speaking against the ruling party in West Bengal.
Ghosh used to be a CPI(M) supporter during the Left era and switched over to the TMC after Mamata Banerjee came to power. Dalmiya, a businesswoman and daughter of former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, joined politics in 2016. Ghosal, a senior journalist, also joined in the same year.
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Banerjee is the second minister from Howrah district and the third minister in the state to resign ahead of the crucial state elections. Suvendu Adhikari, the heavyweight leader from East Midnapore district, had resigned from the government and the TMC and joined the BJP on December 19. Former Indian cricketer and sports and youth affairs minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla also resigned from the party on January 5.
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The Union home minister was scheduled to arrive in Kolkata around 11pm on Friday but had to cancel the visit after the small blast near the Israeli embassy in the national capital. He was supposed to welcome the dissident TMC leaders into the BJP at a rally in Howrah district on Sunday afternoon.
