- Tuesday, April 30, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER Indian central minister Babul Supriyo and one of the fiercest critics of Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, joined her Trinamool Congress (TMC), two months after he lost his ministry in the Narendra Modi government and decided to quit politics.
Supriyo, a singer-turned-politician who also had stints with acting, has been a two-time member of the Indian parliament from the constituency of Asansol. He has served as a junior minister in both the Modi governments and was removed during the last mega cabinet reshuffle in early July.
The 50-year-old politician, who was a junior environment minister at the time, expressed his disappointment and decided to quit politics and even said that he would not join any other party. “I’m surely sad for myself,” he had tweeted then.
However, Supriyo contested the Bengal state election earlier this year in the capital city of Kolkata but lost. He had then said that the state made a “historic mistake” by voting for TMC, the party that he has joined now. The post was deleted later. He also called Banerjee “a cruel lady” and refused to congratulate her on the victory.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday (18), Supriyo defended his latest move saying, “If opportunity comes your way, you should decide, and I have decided to take this.” Supriyo said he wanted to work for his home state Bengal. He is now set to campaign for Banerjee for the upcoming by-election on September 30 which the chief minister needs to win to continue with her office.
Supriyo is the fifth BJP leader to join the TMC after it won the assembly election in May and retained power. Party leader Kunal Ghosh today said more BJP leaders are in talks to join the party.
“Many BJP leaders are in communication with Trinamool leadership. They are not satisfied with BJP. One (Mr Supriyo) joined today, another wants to join tomorrow. This process will go on. Wait and watch,” Ghosh said, according to Asian News International news agency.
