Activist And Former Journalist Saket Gokhale Joins Mamata Banerjee's TMC

Activist and former journalist Saket Gokhale has joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the presence of Derek O’Brien, Yashwant Sinha and other TMC leaders.

"Inspired by the indomitable spirit of @MamataOfficial, today @SaketGokhale joined the Trinamool family in the presence of @SaugataRoyMP, @YashwantSinha and @derekobrienmp. We extend a very warm welcome to him!" TMC tweeted.

On choosing TMC over the largest national opposition party Congress, he said, "I have been a supporter of the Congress. When we talk about the united Opposition, there are ideological matches and overlaps on a lot of fronts. Today if we see all the national parties, All India Trinamool Congress takes a very aggressive stand. The way CM of Bengal has been fighting on the front foot that’s what I’m looking for”.

Gokhale has joined TMC at a time when there are rising concerns of post-poll violence in the state.

Earlier a seven-member team of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) set up by the Calcutta High Court to probe post-poll violence in Bengal had come out with a scathing indictment of the Mamata Banerjee government in the state.

The NHRC team observed that the ‘law of the ruler’ exists in Bengal instead of the ‘rule of the law’. It recommended that the CBI be asked to prove heinous offences like rape, sexual molestation and murder, and that the trial of the cases being probed by the CBI be held outside the state.

The NHRC team, in its 50-page report, had stated that at least 1,934 police complaints (of political violemce) were lodged in the state between May 2 and June 20, including 29 complaints of murder, 12 of rape and sexual assault and 940 of loot and arson. Out of the 9,304 people named as accused, less than 3% are currently in jail.