In a predictable move, Dinesh Trivedi, who had recently quit the Trinamool Congress (TMC), joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. But he wasn’t the only big name to join the BJP this weekend. Actor Mithun Chakraborty also joined the party on Sunday.
Trivedi, who was once said to be close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had left the TMC on February 12. The former Railway Minister and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament was welcomed into the BJP’s fold by National President JP Nadda. Speaking to media persons after the induction Trivedi said, “I left the TMC because I wanted to serve the people, but ended up serving a family.” This is a clear jibe at Mamata Banerjee who has been accused of favouring her nephew Abhishek over seasoned party workers.
But what was shocking was the entry of actor Mithun Chakraborty into the BJP. In his youth Chakraborty was associated with the Left, not at 70 he has joined a far-Right party. The actor played to the gallery at his induction ceremony saying, “I’m a proud Bengali,” and invoked Rani Rashmoni and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar as “ashol Bangali” or real Bengalis. Chakraborty went on regale the crows by repeating one of his movie dialogues that sounds like a dramatic threat, “Maarbo ekhaney, lash podbe shawshaane!” This translates into, “I will hit you here, your corpse will land in the cemetery!”
He went on to issue another bizarre warning, “Aami jawldhnorao noi, beleyborao noi. Ami jaat gokhro! Ek chhoboley chhobi!” This translates into, “I’m not some water-snake or a non-venomous snake. I’m a pure-bread Cobra. One bite is deadly!”
Meanwhile, the TMC lost another three people over the weekend. Nantu Paul who is the former TMC councillor at the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, quit the party saying he will contest as an independent from the Siliguri assembly seat. He was upset after being denied the ticket which was given instead to Omprakash Mishra who is seen as an “outsider”.
Rajan Mukhia, another key leader from Darjeeling hills, left the party on Sunday. He told The Telegraph, “Tt appears to us that top leaders of the party are ignoring local functionaries and workers, who have been trying to expand Trinamul’s support base.”
In Malda, Amlan Bhaduri, the immediate past district president of TMC’s youth wing, also quit over internal differences.
The TMC has already witnessed one instance of mass exodus from the party in December 2020, when Suvendu Adhikari had joined the BJP, leading many others including MP Sunil Mondal to do the same. On that day, the BJP had welcomed into its fold one Member of Parliament (MP), nine Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA), one ex-Minister, one Minister of State, 15 councillors, 45 chairman and 2 Zila Panchayat officials from other parties including the TMC, Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
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