Suvendu Adhikari Likely To Rope In More Disgruntled Trinamool Leaders To Join The BJP

Even as the decks are being cleared for the entry of Trinamool strongman Suvendu Adhikari into the BJP, it is learnt that the former state transport minister is likely to get along with him a few more senior Trinamool leaders to join the saffron party.

Among them are Sunil Mondal, the Trinamool MP from Purba Bardhaman Lok Sabha constituency, former Mayor of Asansol Jitendra Tiwari and a few other MLAs.

Among the names of legislators (who are likely to join the BJP) doing the rounds are Shilabhadra Dutta, Jotu Lahiri and Rajib Banerjee (who is also the state forest minister).

Adhikari, say senior state BJP leaders, is likely to join the BJP in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a public rally at the Adhikari family stronghold of Medinipur on Saturday (19 December).

Shah was earlier scheduled to address a meeting of farmers in Medinipur, but the engagement was changed to a public rally perhaps to make Adhikari’s speculated entry into the BJP a grand spectacle and a show of strength.

Adhikari, who belongs to a political family--his father Sisir is the Lok Sabha MP from Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district while his brother Dibyendu represents the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency in the same district. Another brother, Soumen, is the chairman of Kanthi Municipal Corporation.

The Adhikari family wields a lot of political clout in Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts while Suvendu is also very popular in the neighbouring districts of Hooghly, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram and also in other parts of the state like Murshidabad and Malda.

Suvendu can play a major role in deciding the electoral outcomes in about 15 Assembly constituencies.

Though his father and brother (Dibyendu) are likely to remain in the Trinamool for now (since they do not want to contest a bypoll that will be necessitated if they leave the Trinamool), they are most likely to work for the victory of the BJP. Collectively, they can play a decisive role in about 30 to 35 Assembly seats.

After handing over his resignation as an MLA to the state Assembly Speaker on Wednesday, Suvendu went to the residence of Purba Bardhaman MP Sunil Mondal and held a closed door meeting with the MP.

Former Asansol Mayor Jitendra Tiwari (who is also the MLA from Pandaveswar in Paschim Bardhaman district) and a few other Trinamool leaders from Purba and Paschim Bardhaman districts were present at the meeting.

Tiwari had written a letter to state urban development minister Firad Hakim a few days ago saying that since the state government had deprived Asansol of Rs 2000 crore that it would have received under the Centre’s Smart City project, it should make good this loss.

Hakim invited Tiwari to a meeting but the latter refused to meet Hakim and said he would meet only party supremo Mamata Banerjee. However, he defied Mamata's request against attending any party programmes till she met him.

Tiwari's presence at the meeting at Mondal's residence on Wednesday and his statements against the Trinamool have led to speculation that he is preparing to leave the party. Tiwari has also come out strongly in support of Suvendu Adhikari.

Among others who are likely to quit the Trinamool are Colonel (retired) Diptangshu Chowdhury. Chowdhury had joined the BJP in 2016 and headed the party’s intellectual cell in Bengal. But he left the party and joined Trinamool in December 2017.

He was made the chairman of South Bengal State Transport Corporation and given a few more responsibilities by Mamata Banerjee. However, of late, he had been sidelined in the party.

A few more senior Trinamool leaders are learnt to have established contacts with BJP leaders to negotiate their entry into the saffron party.

On Thursday (17 December), five Trinamool Congress anchal presidents in Malda district left the party. They are expected to join the BJP.

The disgruntled Trinamool Congress leaders said they were miffed over not getting the kind of respect they wanted in the party and were unable to work for the people.

BJP Drafts More Leaders For ‘Mission Bengal’

BJP national president J.P.Nadda has drafted five Union Ministers and two ministers from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for the Bengal elections.

This comes after the BJP divided Bengal into seven zones and appointed senior leaders as central observers for each zone.

The Union Ministers who have been drafted for ‘Mission Bengal’ (which involves winning 200 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls) are Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, minister for tribal affairs Arjun Munda, shipping minister Mansukh Mandaviya, tourism and culture minister Pralhad Singh Patel and animal husbandry minister Dr Sanjeev Balyan.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Madhya Pradesh home minister Dr Narottam Misra are the other two. Each has been put in charge of a cluster of areas under six Lok Sabha constituencies.

These seven leaders will tour the areas under their responsibilities extensively over the next few weeks and interact closely with party workers and the masses. They will participate in the party’s ‘griha sampark abhiyan’.

Apart from holding press conferences, the observers will also interact with beneficiaries of central government schemes and meet party karyakartas.

More leaders from outside the state are likely to be given responsibilites in the state in the coming weeks.

Amit Shah’s Bengal Itinerary

Shah, who will take a helicopter to Medinipur after landing at Kolkata airport, will first visit the Ramakrishna Mission and the Siddeshwar Kali Mandir there.

After this, Shah will garland a statue of Bengali revolutionary Khudiram Bose and make another temple visit before having lunch at a farmer’s house.

Post-lunch, he will address the public meeting at Medinipur College Grounds where Adhikari, along with some other Trinamool leaders, is expected to formally join the BJP.

On 20 December (Sunday), the Union Home Minister will travel to Bolpur (Santiniketan) and visit Visva-Bharati University, followed by lunch at the house of a Baul singer (a Bengali folk singer).

Shah will then leave for Kolkata where he will participate in a roadshow and then address a press meet.