BJP West Bengal Vice-President Arjun Singh Joins Mamata Banerjee’s TMC In Kolkata
Singh had worked with the TMC until joining the BJP in 2019.
New Delhi: Arjun Singh, a BJP Lok Sabha MP and Bengal vice-president, on Sunday joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), according to news agency ANI. This is a big defeat for the saffron party, which has been attempting to depose Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. As Singh departs the BJP, he is the third high-profile politician to do so, following Babul Supriyo and Mukul Roy. Singh had worked with the TMC until joining the BJP in 2019.
"Warmly welcoming former Vice President of @BJP4Bengal and MP from Barrackpore, Shri @ArjunsinghWB into the All India Trinamool Congress family. He joins us today in the presence of our National General Secretary Shri @abhishekaitc," the TMC said on its official Twitter handle.
Warmly welcoming former Vice President of @BJP4Bengal and MP from Barrackpore, Shri @ArjunsinghWB into the All India Trinamool Congress family.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) May 22, 2022
He joins us today in the presence of our National General Secretary Shri @abhishekaitc. pic.twitter.com/UuOB9yp9Xo
According to reports, Singh arrived to Banerjee's office about 4:30 p.m. and spoke with key TMC leaders, news agency PTI reported.
"There is nothing as such that be termed as the last word in politics," Singh, the BJP state vice-president, told reporters without elaborating.
After joining TMC, Singh said, "Politics can't be done while sitting in AC rooms (on BJP's West Bengal unit), has to get down to the ground to do politics, party's graph is declining."
Politics can't be done while sitting in AC rooms (on BJP's West Bengal unit), has to get down to the ground to do politics, party's graph is declining, says Arjun Singh after joining TMC pic.twitter.com/A7IejprQY4
— ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2022
Singh, who has criticised the Centre's jute policy, recently chastised the state BJP leadership for not letting him to work despite having a top position inside the organisation.
Singh, a famous Hindi-speaking TMC politician, joined the saffron camp just before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and went on to win the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat.
Speaking to ANI before of his anticipated big jump, Arjun Singh declined to divulge his cards but said that the BJP had some shortcomings in areas like West Bengal and Kerala. He also stated that he will meet with the state administration to discuss the work of the Labor Department. However, news of his acceptance into TMC arrived soon after.
Only a few days earlier, Singh exposed a schism inside the West Bengal BJP by claiming that he was not permitted to work with a free hand. He informed the media that the state unit's leaders were making it impossible for grassroots workers to carry out their daily duties in the state.
"Let's be clear. By posting tweets on social media, we cannot dislodge the TMC from power in West Bengal. Those having no connection with the ground reality are calling the shots while proven fighters having a mass base are being ignored. How can the BJP achieve its objective then?," Arjun Singh was quoted by PTI in its report.
Arjun Singh, who was formerly an outspoken opponent of Mamata Banerjee's government, has changed his tune amid a series of bomb assaults on his home.
On September 8, 2021, three crude explosives were thrown outside his 'Majdoor Bhavan' in Jagaddal between 6 and 6.30 a.m. The then-BJP leader said that the Trinamool Congress was planning his "assassination."
Just a few weeks earlier, in May 2022, another socket bomb was thrown at his house, for which he blamed a local TMC councillor.
Arjun Singh has also been blunt about Banerjee's administration in the state, stating that she was plotting to turn West Bengal into "another Pakistan."
(With Agencies Inputs)
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