Rumours rife over Bengal Congress chief joining BJP

New Delhi: After bagging Mukul Roy, speculation is rife that the BJP could get another prominent “Bengali manus” in its fold. The saffron party is abuzz with rumour that Congress’ West Bengal’s unit chief and Berhampore MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, could join the saffron fold soon. Mr Roy, one of the founding members of the TMC, had joined the BJP last year after quitting the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.

Mr Chowdhury, who had been critical of Ms Banerjee, is apparently unhappy with the growing bonhomie between the West Bengal’s ruling party and the Congress. Mr Chowdhury, it was learnt, is also miffed over the manner senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was renominated from the state to the Upper House of Parliament after TMC supported his candidature. Sources disclosed the BJP leadership has been receiving feelers from Mr Chowdhary’s camp for sometime now.

While TMC supremo and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been making efforts to firm up an “anti-BJP front” ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Mr Chowdhury had claimed that such a front can only succeed under Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. The Congress leader had accused Ms Banerjee of trying to project herself as a pan-India leader and trying to advise the Congress.

While the BJP has been desperately trying to expand its base in West Bengal, the saffron party is yet to make any political impact in the state. Despite Left parties political graph on a decline, the BJP is yet to project itself as a credible opposition to the TMC, whose popularity graph has faced no major hurdle. Lack of political heavyweights in its BJP state unit is said to be one of the reasons of its not making a major impact in the Bengal politics.