Kolkata: When federal Home Minister and former national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sat down to break bread at the humble courtyard of a farmer’s minimalist thatched-roof house in Midnapore, it was much more than a mere luncheon break in the BJP heavyweight’s two-day tour of West Bengal.
While it was undoubtedly high on optics, with the irony not lost on the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the federal government on the outskirts of Delhi, Shah’s frugal vegetarian lunch menu comprising rice, ‘roti’ dal, ‘lauki’, cauliflower, poppadum and sweets was in stark contrast to the ‘sumptuous platter’ of sorts that was already being laid out at the Midnapore College Ground, barely 10km away from Shah’s lunch venue, where more than a dozen representatives from across the socio-political spectrum in Bengal, including from the state’s minority community, were all set to officially switch their allegiance to the saffron brigade.
Ahead of Amit Shah meeting: Two more MLAs quit, TMC claims ‘deserters’ are no loss
Suvendu Adhikari and several other TMC leaders at various levels of the party are expected to join the BJP at a public meeting presided over by Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday. December 19, 2020 5:02:27 am
Police officers take stock of security preparations for Amit Shah’s rally at Midnapore College Ground, Friday. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Two MLAs of the Trinamool Congress, the leader of its minority cell, and general secretary of a district unit quit the party on Friday as the widely anticipated exodus in the wake of former minister Suvendu Adhikari’s rebellion gathered momentum.
Basu, who used to be a district mentor group member in TMC, named seven district office-bearers and at least one MP, East Burdwan’s Sunil Mandal, as being BJP-bound. Mandal has yet to confirm or deny that he will join BJP at Shah’s rally.
TMC isn’t the only dissent-ridden party BJP seems to be gaining from. CPM’s Tapasi Mondal, the MLA from East Midnapore’s Haldia, is said to be among those ready to cross over.
The desertion bug bit Trinamool’s Birbhum bastion as well, where former Bolpur Municipality councillors Arup Roy and Shelley Roy resigned on Friday, sparking speculation that they might be joining BJP when Shah visits the district on Sunday.
NEW DELHI: Former TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday joined the BJP in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah at a rally in West Bengal s Midnapore. His formal induction into the saffron party has put to rest weeks of speculation about his political future.
Adhikari, who has been at odds with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the past few weeks, had exited the Trinamool Congress on Thursday and resigned as the party s MLA earlier this week.
Besides Adhikari, several other TMC leaders defected to the BJP at the mammoth rally.
Two-time TMC MP from Bardhaman Purba Lok Sabha constituency Sunil Mondal, who has been vocal about his differences with the party s leadership, was inducted into the the BJP.
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