Home Minister Amit Shah sent a chartered plane to bring five rebel Trinamool leaders from Kolkata to Delhi. These leaders include former Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee, Trinamool MLA from Bali, Baishali Dalmiya, Uttarpara MLA Prabir Ghoshal, Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty, and former MLA and five-term civic chief of Ranaghat, Partha Sarathi Chatterjee.
The five rebel Trinamool leaders were expected to join the BJP in the presence of Shah, who was scheduled to visit the state over the weekend. However, NDTV quoted Banerjee as saying, “Mr Amit Shah called me up and said he would like to handover the flag to me himself, so he is sending down a chartered plane to fly me to the capital.”
News agency ANi tweeted a photo of five rebel Trinamool leaders with BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya. Roy was close confidante of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee before joining the BJP.
Former Trinamool Congress leaders Rajib Banerjee, Baishali Dalmiya, Prabir Ghoshal and Rathin Chakraborti along with BJP’s Mukul Roy, and Kailash Vijayvargiya reach Delhi.
(Earlier visuals of them leaving from Kolkata) pic.twitter.com/GHUjy9JvkG
— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2021
Rajib Banerjee held the portfolio of forest ministry before he resigned both as a minister and from the party. Earlier, another close associate of Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari severed ties with the Trinamool Congress on 16 December days after quitting the state cabinet.
Shah was expected to address a mega rally at Dumurjola in Howrah on Sunday. However, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani will now address the rally.
Bengal is scheduled to go for crucial assembly polls in May this year. The BJP, which won 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats last year, is making a desperate bid to dislodge the Trinamool Congress government headed by Mamata Banerjee.