In a setback to the BJP, its national vice president, Mukul Roy, on Friday quit the party to return to the Trinamool Congress in presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Also returning to the Trinamool was Roy’s son Subhrangshu.
Roy was welcomed by Abhishek Banerjee, who has grown in stature in the Trinamool Congress after his recent promotion.
Speaking to the media, Mamata Banerjee said that Roy had ‘got a mental peace after returning to the TMC.’ “I saw his health was also getting bad,” Banerjee was quoted as saying.
She added, “Mukul Roy did not say anything against the TMC during (assembly) election, the ones who went to the BJP during elections and did ‘gaddari’ with us, we will not take them back.”
Mukul Roy did not say anything against TMC during election, the ones who went to BJP during elections and did ‘gaddari’ with us, we will not take them back: TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee
— Soumyajit Majumder (@SoumyajitWrites) June 11, 2021
Roy reportedly told Mamata Banerjee that joining the BJP was a ‘big mistake.’
Last week, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee had visited a Kolkata hospital to inquire about Mukul Roy’s ailing wife. Abhishek Banerjee, who was recently promoted to a key role within the Trinamool Congress, meeting Mukul Roy had given credence to speculation that all was not well between Mukul Roy and the BJP.
As reported by Janta Ka Reporter earlier, scores of BJP MLAs and other BJP leaders, who left the Trinamool to join the saffron party before the assembly polls, were now keen to return to their old party.
Another Trinamool defector to BJP, Rajib Banerjee, on Tuesday took to Facebook to warn his own party to desist from harassing the Mamata Banerjee government after losing the polls. He wrote in Bengali that constantly harassing the government led by Banerjee with a threat to impose Article 356 in the state would not go down well with the people of Bengal.
Many believe that the BJP’s decision to promote Suvendu Adhikari, another former loyalist of Mamata Banerjee, in Bengal may have prompted Roy to consider returning to his former party. Roy has not made any formal statement on his possible return to the Trinamool Congress.