Actor Biswajit Chatterjee joins BJP

New Delhi: After veteran actor Moushumi Chatterjee, it was yesteryear actor and TMC member Biswajit Chatterjee, who joined the saffron fold on Monday. The veteran actor had unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha elections on the TMC ticket from the   New Delhi parliamentary constiutuency. Many Tollywood celebrities including Roopa Ganguly, Locket Chatterjee and singer Babul Supriyo are part of the BJP's West Bengal unit. Recently, TMC MP Saumitra Khan had also joined the saffron fold and the BJP is expected to field him in the state where the party leadership claims to bag more than 22 of the tortal 42 parliamentary berths, in the coming general polls.  The BJP currently has only two MPs from the state, Union ministers S.S. Ahluwalia who represents Darjeeling and Mr Supriyo who represents Asansol.

Mr Chatterjee, 82, father of popular Tollywood actor Prosenjit Chatterjee, joined the BJP in presence of party general secretary and West Bengal unit in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya.  

West Bengal is one of the key states on BJP president Amit Shah's radar as party's organisational structure was considered week as compared to other states. The party has increased its presence in the state through membership drive, getting members till the booth level  and organising events highlighting how the state has continued to witness "decline" under the TMC rule as it had witnessed during the earlier Left rule.

Mr Shah himself had been aggresively campaigning against the Mamata Banerjee led state government for promoting appeasement politics.