In a major development in the political affairs of West Bengal, Sujata Mondal Khan, wife of BJP MP Saumitra Khan, joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday.
After joining the Mamata Banerjee-led party at the presence of Kunal Ghosh and veteran Saugata Roy, Sujata hoped for her TMC-turncoat husband to follow suit soon.
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“I hope good sense prevails in him. Let’s hope for the best,” said Sujata about Saumitra, the Bishnupur lawmaker.
According to a report in Bengali portal The Wall, there has been a rift in the relationship between Saumitra and Sujata after the latter demanded to be made the president of BJP’s Mahila Morcha.
As Home Minister Amit Shah boasted about the intolerance of the saffron party to nepotism, TMC seems to have taken the advantage. It hopes to untether a fierce campaign against Saumitra, the former president of TMC’s youth wing.
Sujata had proved to be instrumental in BJP’s success in the 2019 Parliamentary polls in Bankura after Saumitra was stopped by the court from entering the district.
Sujata had shouldered the responsibility of BJP’s campaign in Bankura. It was riding on her effortless campaigning that hindutva brigade gained massive inroads on the land of red soil.
How much will Sujata’s induction help West Bengal’s governning party in the ballots remains to be seen. But it’ll certainly act as a moral booster to the TMC cadres who have been demotivated recently with massive defections led by Suvendu Adhikari.
Bringing an end to the long-running speculations looming over his political career, Adhikari switched loyalty and joined BJP at the presence of Shah a huge rally in Midnapore on Saturday.
Adhikari, the former Minister of Transport, Irrigation and Water resource in Government of West Bengal, has took with him a total of more than 40 TMC leaders to the BJP.
Nine MLAs – six from TMC, one from CPIM, one from CPI and one from Congress – joined BJP on Saturday. One sitting and a former TMC MP also defected to the Hindutva camp.
TMC has witnessed dissent from several other leaders across the state and Shah on Saturday exclaimed that by the time of the elections, Mamata Banerjee would be left all alone.
“By the time elections come, you will be left all alone…Why are so many people leaving Trinamool Congress now? Because of the misrule, corruption and nepotism of Mamata Banerjee,” Shah said.