Even though the first phase of the assembly elections is just 10 days away, the exodus of leaders from Trinamool Congress in West Bengal has not stopped. The latest to leave the Mamata Banerjee led ruling party to join BJP is going to be veteran leader Sisir Adhikari, the father Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined BJP in December.
Ending speculations about his father joining BJP, today Suvendu Adhikari announced that Sisir Adhikari will be present in a rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Contai (Kanthi) in East Midnapore district on 24th March. It is being reported that Sisir Adhikari will officially join BJP in the presence of PM Modi at that rally. It may be noted that Sisir Adhikari is Lok Sabha MP from Kanthi. Speaking at an election rally at Chandipur today, Suvendu Adhikari added that he will ask his father to attend Amit Shah’s rally as well.
Earlier Sisir Adhikari had said that he will campaign for his son Suvendu Adhikari if he is asked to do it. He had said he has no problem attending a BJP rally for his son, giving an indication that he may join BJP. It may be noted that campaigning for Suvendu Adhikari means campaigning against Mamata Banerjee, as she is contesting against Suvendu from Nandigram.
Even after his two sons had joined the BJP, Sisir Adhikari had chosen to stay in TMC. But this changed after Mamata Banerjee chose to contest against his son Suvendu from Nandigram, changing her seat. Sisir Adhikari has said that the CM has changed her seat only to end the political career of his son.
The move to induct the senior MP into BJP gained momentum after BJP MP Locket Chatterjee visited him recently. She had gone to Sisir Adhikari’s house to invite him to attend Narendra Modi’s rally.
He has also said that he has come under attack from fellow TMC workers for his sons. He has been insulted, termed as Mir Jafar, for the acts of his sons, angering the veteran leader. Due to these reasons, he has finally decided to join the BJP.
Interestingly, in December after Suvendu Adhikari had joined the BJP, TMC MP and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee mocked Suvendu Adhikari for failing to shift his father and two brothers from TMC to BJP. “You have failed to bloom the lotus in your own house. How can you make the lotus bloom in the entire state?” he had said.
Suvendu Adhikari’s father and Kanthi MP Sisir Kumar Adhikari, his brother and Tamluk MP Dibyendu Adhikari and another brother and Chairman of Kanthi Municipality Soumendu Adhikari were still leaders of TMC at that time. However, In January this year Soumendu Adhikari also joined BJP. Now with Sisir Adhikari set to join BJP, Dibyendu Adhikari will be the only member of the Adhikari family to remain in TMC.
