Was with BJP, still am, says Mukul Roy in Delhi. His Twitter handle says TMC

KOLKATA: Veteran Bengal politician Mukul Roy insisted on Wednesday that he was and continues to be part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), his response to a barrage of questions on his next move over speculation that the 69-year-old politician could exit the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

“I was with the BJP. I am still with the BJP. I will remain with the BJP. Even a few days back, BJP sent me a letter saying that I am with them. BJP would perform well,” Mukul Roy told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday.

The veteran leader’s profile on Twitter - he last retweeted a post by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on March 19 - does not mention the BJP. Instead, the profile only says, “All India Trinamool Congress, Former Union Railway Minister, Govt. of India”.

Mukul Roy, a founding member of the Mamata-Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, switched over to the BJP in 2017 after he was named as an accused in the Narada sting operation case and following a fallout with Mamata Banerjee. He was also suspended from the party for six years. The BJP appointed him as its national vice president.

Mukul Roy returned to the TMC in 2021 after the assembly elections at a public event but did not resign his seat in the state assembly that he had won on a BJP ticket. When the BJP sought his disqualification under the anti-defection law, Roy and his legal team told the speaker that he hadn’t joined the TMC and continued to remain a part of the BJP. Assembly speaker Biman Banerjee finally rejected the disqualification complaint.

Roy’s appearance before the media in Delhi on Wednesday comes days after he was reported missing by his son Subhranshu Roy in Kolkata and there was buzz that the BJP had reached out to him.

Mamata Banerjee brushed aside the speculation around Roy, who she also referred to as a BJP legislator.

“He is a BJP legislator. I have heard that his son has lodged a missing diary. Police will investigate. I have nothing to say. It is absolutely his choice. I think you know how BJP is behaving. Maybe he was threatened…. It is a very small matter. We don’t care. It is better to ignore. But the missing case is very serious,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

In an interview with a television channel, Mukul Roy incidentally described him as a Lok Sabha MP. Subhranshu Roy has repeatedly said that his father was unwell.

“I am not a legislator. I am a Lok Sabha MP. I came to Delhi for the parliament session,” Mukul Roy who won the Krishnanagar Uttar assembly seat in the 2021 elections, said in course of an interview with a TV channel earlier in the day. He also stressed that the CPM must be defeated in West Bengal and that he will try to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah during his Delhi visit.

Subhranshu reiterated about his father’s health condition on Tuesday. “He had to undergo a surgery and takes 18 medicines every day. Dirty politics is being played with him. The target is to malign Abhishek Banerjee,” he said.

The BJP suggested that it wasn’t taking Mukul Roy’s statements seriously.

“His (Mukul Roy’s) statements change every six months. There is nothing to worry about. He has no credibility. Let him get well. He wants to evict the CPIM from Bengal. Where is the CPIM? Everyone is in confusion about his political allegiance,” Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s national vice president told reporters.