BJP MP Arjun Singh rejoins Trinamool
People across India are suffering & they need us now more than ever. Let’s keep the fight alive: Abhishek
KOLKATA: In a major embarrassment and yet another jolt to the beleaguered saffron camp in Bengal, ending weeks of speculation, BJP vice-president and MP from Barrackpore, Arjun Singh on Sunday rejoined the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Singh joined the party in presence of Trinamool Congress national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who welcomed the leader into the party fold. Banerjee in a tweet said: “Extending a warm welcome to Shri Arjun Singh, who rejected the divisive forces at BJP and joined the TMC family today. People across the nation are suffering and they need us now more than ever. Let’s keep the fight alive!”
The BJP unit in the state has been fighting hard to keep its flock together after former Union minister Babul Supriyo and six legislators joined TMC since the Assembly poll results last year.
Failing to get a poll ticket, Singh had left TMC ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and joined the BJP. Thereafter, he became a parliamentarian on a BJP ticket.
Singh’s relationship with the BJP started to strain after he—following BJP’s poll debacle, even in the municipal elections where BJP lost all seats in Arjun’s home turf, including ward 17 under the Bhatpara municipality— trained his guns against the state leadership and the final straw broke with the Centre capping the jute price. Singh had met BJP top brass, including party president JP Nadda, last week.
Singh had said it was not possible to work while staying in the BJP. He had compared his post in the saffron camp to a ‘pen without ink’.
In an apparent dig at the BJP leaders, Singh after rejoining TMC said: “Politics cannot be done while sitting in air-conditioned rooms. The leadership has to get down to the ground level to do politics. BJP’s graph is fast declining.”
Hailing the TMC, Singh added: “The way Trinamool is working for the development of Bengal is worth appreciating. I am from the jute mill area and the people there have been suffering because of the Centre’s unjust policies. BJP is limited to Facebook and other such social media.”
Earlier in the day, Singh had said: “The countdown has started. If I do ghar waapsi, you all will come to know. Until it’s officially done, there is no point talking about it. I have been working with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even before she had formed a party.”
Singh will be present at a rally that will be addressed by Abhishek Banerjee at Shyamnagar on May 30. Several Trinamool leaders, including Saugata Roy, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Madan Mitra, Jyotipriya Mullick, Partha Bhowmick and Manju Basu, will also be present at the rally.
Singh has been slamming the Centre alleging that the BJP-lead Central government was neglecting the jute industry of Bengal. The MP had even threatened to hit the streets if the issue of jute price capping was not resolved.
In November 2021, Mamata Banerjee had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in fixing up the selling price of jute at Rs 6,000 per quintal.
The jute commissioner has recently revoked the jute price capping.
“Though the Centre has withdrawn the notification on the selling price of Jute, however, 75 per cent battle will have to be fought to save the jute mills and the farmers. Fifteen jute mills are closed,” Singh said on Sunday.
About his resignation as MP from BJP, without naming Sisir Adhikari and his son Dibyendu, Singh said: “There are two TMC MPs who are working for BJP. Let them resign, I will take two hours to reach Delhi and submit my resignation.”
Singh joined the band of Trinamool leaders who returned to the party like Rajib Bandyopadhyay, Mukul Roy, Sabyasachi Dutta and six MLAs.
Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting with Jyotipriya Mullick, Partha Bhowmick and other leaders from North 24-Parganas for nearly an hour before inducting Singh. Later, Singh also joined the meeting which was held to dispel misunderstanding. After all the leaders of North 24-Parganas unanimously accepted the proposal, Singh was formally re-inducted to TMC.
Singh said Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee had cleared his proposal to rejoin the party. When the meeting was on in Kolkata, Singh’s supporters removed the BJP flags from his house–Mazdoor Bhavan in Bhatpara. The festoons carrying the photographs of BJP’s national president JP Nadda and Narendra Modi were removed.
Reacting sharply to the rejoining of Singh, BJP’s national vicepresident Dilip Ghosh said: “He had joined BJP to satisfy his vested interest and left the party as he could not fulfill it.” BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra said: “If someone wants to do politics for his personal benefit, what can we say about it. However, it is a huge loss.”