The West Bengal Assembly Elections are only months away in 2021, and the churn in TMC is rather visible. With one of their strongest booth managers and the leader who organised the Nandigram protest, Suvendu Adhikari, quitting the party and joining BJP, TMC is in a state of flux. On Tuesday, Suvendu Adhikari is all set to meet the speaker over his resignation that was rejected earlier.
#SuvenduAdhikari to meet Speaker over his resignation. #ITVideo #WestBengal pic.twitter.com/YeDYFMFA0l
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) December 21, 2020
According to a report by India Today, Suvendu Adhikari has already left for Kolkata and is all set to meet the speaker over his resignation that was rejected earlier.
West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee on Friday had refused to accept the resignation of former TMC stalwart Suvendu Adhikari claiming that his resignation letter was not in proper format and also did not have a date on it.
The speaker also said that he has not been informed that Adhikari’s resignation is voluntary and genuine and asked him to meet him on Monday. He also said that it is not possible to accept the resignation letter in this format.
“I have examined the letter & found that the date isn’t specified in it. I hadn’t been informed that his (Suvendu Adhikari) resignation is voluntary & genuine. So it’s not possible to accept it. I’ve asked him to appear before me on 21st Dec,” said West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee.
Additionally, Suvendu Adhikari is also set to visit the BJP party office at 4 PM, after meeting the speaker over his resignation.
TMC tries to salvage what is left, claims defection of Suvendu Adhikari and others won’t hurt the party ahead of assembly elections
After losing 10 MLAs to BJP, who joined the party in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah only a day ago, the TMC is trying to save face and convey to the people that all is well within the party, even though, that might not really be the case. Saying that “Traitors and backstabbers have existed since time immemorial,” TMC alleged that recent deflections won’t hurt the party in the upcoming Assembly Elections.
State Panchayat Minister Subrata Banerjee said, “We did have some information, and therefore we were not stunned. There is no reason to raise a hue and cry over the desertion of Mir Jafars. Such betrayals have been taking place for centuries. Just with one Suvendu in its fold, the BJP hopes to win 250 seats…Thank god, they are not saying they will win all the seats”.
It is pertinent to note that TMC seems awfully angry with Suvendu Adhikari while saying that his exit will not affect the party adversely in the polls. Clearly, TMC seems to believe that Adhikari has ‘betrayed’ the party and Mamata Banerjee as he was branded as ‘Mir Jafer’. Mir Jafar was a military commander who aided the British and betrayed Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud-Daulah during the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Interestingly, in calling Adhikar Mir Jafer, they also seem to be calling Mamata Banerjee the ‘Nawab of Bengal’.
Criticising the Union minister, Mukherjee’s Cabinet colleague Firhad Hakim said, “He said the BJP would build ‘Sonar Bangla [Golden Bengal]’. They should make a ‘Sonar Bharat [Golden India]’ first and then they may try for ‘Sonar Bangla’. Modi said the government would provide one crore jobs, but 21 crore people became jobless in his regime. They are trying to make India a private limited company. Selling all the public sectors and now they are trying to win Bengal through communal politics.”
