Disgruntled Trinamool Congress (TMC) heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, who has gradually distanced himself from his party and the government over the past few months, nearly ended speculations on Tuesday when he dropped clear hints of joining the TMC’s principal challenger, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
That he would quit the party had become evident over the past couple of weeks, especially after he resigned from the Mamata Banerjee cabinet and also the chairmanship of Haldia Development Authority and Hooghly River Bridge Commission. However, he has not resigned from the party or the state Assembly yet.
Till date, the speculations had been over whether the 49-year-old would join the BJP or launch his own platform. He is known to have a significant following of his own, spanning across multiple districts.
Until July, he held three ministerial portfolios and was the party’s in-charge for five of the state’s 23 districts. Till date, he is part of the party’s highest decision-making body, the seven-member steering committee.
While speaking from the platform of an apolitical event on Tuesday, Adhikari made certain comments that dropped unmistakable hints of his future steps.
He criticisied the TMC’s campaign, though without naming the party or Mamata Banerjee, for its repeated attacks on the BJP’s central leaders branding them as “outsiders”.
“Local politician and freedom fighter Satish Samanta was respected by one and all. Jawaharlal Nehru used to stand up whenever he saw Samanta. Neither did Nehru treat him as non-Hindi speaker nor Samanta considered him as an outsider,” Adhikari said.
This was a clear rebuttal of the TMC’s line of campaign against the BJP.
Adhikari also criticised the TMC’s campaign fuelling Bengali ethnic sentiments. He said, “We are Indian first and then Bengali.”
Besides, he echoed one of the BJP’s central campaign of the BJP against the TMC rule when he said, “There is no democracy. It’s partycracy. We need to reclaim democratic space.”
There are also unconfirmed news of Adhikari getting security cover provided by the Centre. He had given up the state government’s security cover after resigning from the cabinet but the state police continued to provide him security.
“The ministry of home affairs has cleared security cover for Adhikari, though they would formally take over the security charge only after he formally joins the party,” said a close aide of Adhikari who did not want to be named.
A senior BJP leader of the party’s state unit said, requesting anonymity, that Adhikari might join the party on December 19 when home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the district of West Bengal, the one neighbouring Adhikari’s home district of East Midnapore.
Another Bengal BJP leader, however, said that Adhikary might also be inducted in the party by state unit president Dilip Ghosh on December 18. Before joining, Adhikari is expected to resign from the Assembly.
The TMC is yet to take any disciplinary action against Adhikari, even though action has been taken against some of his loyalists. It remains to be seen if the party now decides to act against him following his comments from the event on Tuesday.
If he joins the BJP finally, he will be the second biggest TMC leader to join the rival camp, after Mukul Roy, Mamata Banerjee's former right-hand person and the BJP's present national vice-president.
