In what will be a blow to the ruling Trinamool Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Dibyendu Adhikari, an MP and younger brother of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, is likely to join the BJP in Delhi on Friday, sources said.
Apart from the LoP’s younger sibling, TMC’s Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, who joined the ruling party in the state after its victory in the 2021 Assembly elections, is also likely to return to the BJP on Friday.
Dibyendu is currently a Trinamool MP from the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency of Purba Medinipur district.
Earlier, the TMC lost old-timer and sitting MLA Tapas Roy to the BJP. After resigning his membership in the Assembly and also stepping down from all party posts, Roy accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC leadership of leaving him to fend for himself and not reaching out during a raid by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
Earlier, during a visit to North Bengal, LoP Suvendu Adhikari said the region in the upper reaches of the state has long been a bastion of the BJP and has stood with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to reporters, Suvendu said, “The people of North Bengal have always stood with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here, the people love him, respect him and consider him as one of their own. North Bengal has voted in favour of PM Modi since 2014. In 2019, his vote percentage increased and in 2021, his support base in North Bengal remained intact.”
Earlier, political analyst and election strategist Prashant Kishor, who has worked with the TMC and CM Mamata, said the BJP was on course to perform better than the ruling party in the state this time in the Lok Sabha elections.
Barrakpore MP Arjun Singh wasn’t picked by TMC, shares post on Modi wave
Trinamool Congress MP Arjun Singh, who was denied a ticket to seek a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from the Barrackpore constituency of West Bengal, is all set to return to the BJP, dealing a blow to the ruling party in the state ahead of the upcoming electoral battle.
The BJP, which named 20 Lok Sabha candidates from West Bengal earlier, hasn’t yet announced its pick for Barrackpore.
Taking to his official handle on X, Arjun Singh on Thursday posted an image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a slogan in Bengali that translates to: “It’s Modi again, say everyone”.
#Barrackpore pic.twitter.com/QNCsF96sCh
— Arjun Singh (@ArjunsinghWB) March 14, 2024
Earlier on Wednesday, March 14, Singh hinted at his return to the BJP, saying that the TMC meted out ‘injustice’ to him.
The ruling party in the state, earlier, dropped Singh and fielded state minister and TMC MLA Partha Bhowmick, instead, from the Barrackpore seat for the Lok Sabha elections.
Singh started his political career by winning the Bhatpara Municipality Election as a councillor of the Congress before switching over to the TMC in 2001.
However, on the eve of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he quit the TMC and joined the BJP. Winning nomination from the Barrackpore seat, he trounced his TMC rival to make it to the Lower House.
However, a year after the BJP’s defeat to the TMC in the 2021 Assembly elections, Singh returned to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
TMC announces list of candidates in all 42 seats of Bengal
Shattering the hopes of Congress for an alliance in the state, Mamata Banerjee had on 10th March 2024 announced the list of all 42 TMC candidates at a rally in Kolkata’s Brigade Ground. This was the first time that the party announced a candidates list from a public meeting, that too in one go.
Mamata Banerjee had made a mega show out of the candidate list as all 42 of them walked with her at the ramp built at the rally. Gujarat cricketer Yusuf Pathan will be contesting against Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury who has been winning the Berhampore seat since 1999. Actress Rachana Banerjee will face BJP MP Locket Chatterjee in Hooghly.
(With inputs from ANI)
