Amid ‘switch’ talk, Mukul meets BJP leaders in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Suspended Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy’s meeting with senior leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party in the national capital on Monday added fuel to the speculation about his impending move to join the ruling party. Roy, who is also expected to resign from the Rajya Sabha this week, met BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also in the party’s in-charge of West Bengal.

While Roy, a founding member of the TM C who was expelled for six years for anti-party activities, could not be reached for comment, Vijayvargiya said the BJP is not in a hurry to take any decision on the issue.

He, however, said most leaders who want to work on the “development agenda” set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are keen to join the party.

After falling out with TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Bannerjee, Roy has been seeing reaching out to the BJP. In a sharp digression from his party’s line, Roy earlier commented that he does not consider the BJP to be a communal force, but a “secular party”.