Actor-turned-politician and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Bengal Mithun Chakraborty on Wednesday claimed that as many as 38 MLAs of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) have very good relations with the saffron clad and 21 out of them are in direct contact. While speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Mithun said, "Do you want to hear breaking news? At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs have very good relations with us, out of which 21 are in direct contact with us."
“At least 38 TMC MLAs are in touch with the BJP. Out of them, 21 are personally in touch with me. When I was in Mumbai, I read in newspapers one fine morning that the Shiv Sena and the BJP have formed the government in Maharashtra,” he said while addressing a press conference here.
Mithun said the BJP is in power in 18 states, and the party’s flag will fly high in a few other states very soon. "The BJP will not stop its fight in West Bengal. If free and fair polls are held in the state today, the party will form the next government," he said.
Reacting to his claims, TMC said the famed actor is "trying to fool the people by making false claims". "Such statements are an attempt to fool the masses. It has no relation with reality," TMC MP Santanu Sen said.
The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly. The opposition BJP has 75 legislators.
Mithun had joined the BJP during 2021 West Bengal assembly elections and went into hibernation after a stormy campaign session. He made a comeback into active politics earlier this month during a press conference at the state headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata.
"I was inactive for some time because of health reasons. But I am fit now. So, I came to Kolkata today and had a meeting with the state BJP president, Sukanta Majumdar. I will work on specific assignments given to me by the party leadership, which I am unable to disclose now," he had said earlier.
During the presser, Mithun said that in his opinion the BJP's performance was more than satisfactory. "Hitting the bull's eye at the first chance is not always possible. So, to my opinion, there is no reason to be disheartened by the results, since lots of battles are there in the near future," news agency IANS quoted him as saying.
Mithun also pointed out that he is re-entring into active politics to do something positive for the society. "In my personal capacity, I always tried to return something to society against what I got from it. But somewhere now I feel that effort cannot be enough unless you are in a position of power. And whatever I want to do in politics is to serve the society. Personally, I have nothing to gain from politics," he said.
Mithun had joined the BJP on March 7, 2021 at a mega rally in Kolkata in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.