Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth unit president Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday visited Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals to check on the health of the party turncoat Mukul Roy’s wife Krishna. This action has added to speculation about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president’s next move.

Abhishek, who is being hailed as number two in Trinamool, visited the hospital facility where Krishna Roy is being treated for Covid while returning from his constituency. At the hospital, Banerjee met Subhrangshu Roy, his former party colleague, and Mukul Roy's son.

The short meet between junior Banerjee and junior Roy comes days after Shubrangshu posted a cryptic message on social media. Shubrangshu, who defected to BJP from TMC in 2019, contested from his seat of Bizpur in North 24 Parganas. However, Roy lost the election in 2021.

"Self-criticism is more necessary than criticizing a government elected by people" stated the message by Subhranshu Roy, whose father and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president Mukul Roy left TMC to join BJP in 2017.


Even though he did not name any party or state, the message came as an embarrassment for BJP.

During the 2021 elections, Mamata Banerjee's statement on her former aide sparked controversy. Addressing a rally, Mamata Banerjee had claimed that Mukul Roy was not as Suvendu Adhikari. Controversy also broke out the day Mukul went to take an oath as an MLA after the formation of the new government.

As Roy did not participate in the first meet of the legislative party of BJP, rumours triggered that Roy may leave for his old party.

However, Roy with a tweet dismissed all rumours. Calling himself to be a 'loyal' BJP soldier, he wrote, "My fight would continue as a soldier of BJP to restore democracy in our state. I would request everyone to put the concoctions and conjectures to rest. I am resolute in my political path.”

Mukul Roy, a founder TMC member, was suspended for six years from the Trinamool Congress after his meeting with BJP leaders in September 2017. Roy quit from the party and the Rajya Sabha the following month and joined the BJP in November 2017.

Mukul Roy was the BJP’s lead election strategist for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Bengal when the BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 seats. In September last year, Roy, who is accused in the Narada sting operation case probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, was appointed national vice-president of the BJP.

As Trinamool Congress (TMC) registering a thumping third consecutive poll victory in Bengal, turncoats who had quit the party before the elections to join the BJP now seem to be making a beeline to re-enter the Mamata Banerjee camp.

In this buzz, the latest one is Dipendu Biswas who had switched sides after his name did not feature in the TMC's candidate list for the assembly polls 2021, has expressed his desire to return to the state's ruling party.

He claims that it was a mistake on his part to join the BJP and he apologized to TMC chief and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for his deeds.

In a letter to the chief minister, the footballer-turned-politician said that he wanted to hold the TMC flag again from the party's general secretary Subrata Baksi.

Dipendu Biswas was elected from the Basirhat Dakshin assembly seat in the 2016 elections on a TMC ticket but he quit the party after being denied the poll ticket this year.

Speaking to the media, he said he made a "wrong decision" to join the BJP and said it was "taken in a moment of depression".

"I want to join the TMC again and will help the party chief make further progress in the state," the former Basirhat Dakshin MLA said.

CM Mamata’s former aide, Sonali Guha, and other turncoats Sarala Murmu and Amal Acharya, who had joined the BJP before the state assembly elections, have also expressed their desire to return to the party.

Former TMC MLA Sonali Guha had on May 23 written to Mamata Banerjee, apologizing to her for leaving the party.

The four-time legislator from Satgachhia in South 24 Parganas district, in a letter which she had also shared on social media, said, "The way a fish cannot stay out of the water, I will not be able to live without you, Didi."

"I seek your forgiveness and if you don't forgive me, I won't be able to live. Please allow me to come back, and spend the rest of my life in your affection."

Sarala Murmu had switched camps as she was reportedly unhappy with the ticket that was given to her by the ruling party. She was nominated from Habibpur seat in Malda, but party sources had then claimed that she was keen on contesting the election from Malda constituency.

Sarala Murmu said “I had been doing TMC for quite some time and held important positions as well. It was a huge mistake for me to join BJP, I understand that. I realized my mistake while the elections were going on but I kept quiet. After Didi won the elections, she had put forward a message that those who had left TMC because of any grievances are welcome to join back. Hence, I am responding to that call. If she takes me back, I will stay with her and work for her, just like before.”

“As elections are going on for the District Council, there will obviously be distrust as the party is against the sovereign, hence I will definitely be present there as a member. I think it’s wise to stay with Didi because the way she has developed the state is admirable and I want to stay with someone who has a positive impact on people,” Murmu added.

Murmu apologise for her mistake and requested Didi to forgive her.

Sarala requested forgiveness and said “I would like to request Didi to kindly forgive my mistake and take me back to her party as I want to work with her. This is the message I want to send across to her through the press. I have not gotten very deep into BJP but in some areas, I do see those practicing politics of vengeance. Off of us can see that. Joining BJP was a mistake and I wanted to admit my mistake. There is nothing more to say. I just want to rectify my mistake.”

Amal Acharya, the former MLA from Itahar in Uttar Dinajpur, had also joined the BJP just two weeks before the elections after being denied a ticket by the TMC.

TMC is ready to welcome any of the party members who ditch them earlier.

Rajya Sabha MP and the district president of the Trinamul Congress, Mausam Noor said “Mamata Banerjee has welcomed any candidate who wants to join back. But I think some steps should be taken against few candidates. Sarala Murmu. She was made the candidate of Habipur and given several other posts. She has taken advantage and yet joined BJP. Such greedy candidates should not be considered. Today she wants to come back only because TMC is in power again. We, the district leaders and members of the party have decided that people who have taken advantage of TMC and still joined BJP will not be welcomed back. We will talk to the government officials regarding this too. The waste is out of the party now and hence the results this time were very good. People who have played dirty politics against the party, I personally think should not be welcomed back. Some who were threatened to join BJP can be considered, but not the leads.”