Roy plotting ‘ghar wapsi’ of 10 BJP MLAs, 1 MP?
BJP: Not bothered about who will stay or leave
Within hours of returning to Trinamul Congress, the newly elected MLA of Krishnanagar North in Nadia, Mukul Roy, is back in the business of poaching which has left the BJP worried about its future in West Bengal.
According to sources, at least 10 MLAs and one Lok Sabha MP of the BJP received phone calls from their party’s former national vice-president between Friday night and Saturday morning inviting them to follow in his footsteps. Among the 10 MLAs, three are from North Bengal, specifically from Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri and South Dinajpur, BJP insiders revealed. The rest seven are from South Bengal. Among them, two are from Purulia and one each is from Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly, sources added.
The Lok Sabha MP who received a call from Mr Roy call is also from North Bengal. The state BJP leadership came to know of Mr Roy’s moves after two of the 10 MLAs informed them. Surprisingly, the rest remained silent, an ominous sign for the BJP.
Flagging his concerns, BJP veteran Tathagata Roy tweeted, “Clearly Mukul Roy was a Trojan Horse. After having been welcomed into the BJP, gained access to its allIndia leaders and hobnobbed with state BJP’s gullible leaders and learnt all about the party and its innermost detail, he went back and leaked everything to Mamata. But what’s done is done. Now the big question is, did Mukul leave back Trojan Horses within this Trojan Horse?”
The BJP legislature party chief whip Manoj Tigga said that Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari was apprised of the overnight development. The party, which won 77 seats in the recently concluded Assembly election, is now reduced to 74 MLAs in barely a month. But it put up a brave front on Saturday despite the threat of “ghar wapsi” of more legislators.
Its state president Dilip Ghosh said, “Many are known to Mr Roy for a long time. In that sense, he can call them up. I am not bothered about who will stay or leave. Politicians
are very clever. They make moves judging the wind. But the BJP does not move on AyaramGayaram. Time has come for the dust to go. We are now standing by those party workers who are facing attacks.”
Meanwhile, Mr Mukul Roy and his son Shubhrangshu said that they have written to the Union home ministry to withdraw the Central forces' security cover offered to them. While Mr Roy was given Z-category protection by 22 CRPF commandos, his son was given Y-category cover.
They have been provided the same security cover by Mamata Banerjee's government after their return to the Trinamul Congress. However, the Central forces' cover was yet to be withdrawn from Mr Roy till afternoon.
In the evening, BJP leader Rajib Banerjee, who has been wanting to return to the Trinamul Congress and has slammed his present party for attacking chief minister Mamata Banerjee, met TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh at his residence. He called the meeting a “courtesy” call.