Pranab Mukherjee's Son And Cong Leader Abhijit Mukherjee Likely To Join TMC Today

Cong Leader Abhijit Mukherjee, who is the son of late president Pranab Mukherjee is likely to join TMC today.

Abhijit Mukherjee with former President Pranab Mukherjee (File Photo)

Former President and Congress leader late Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijeet Mukherjee will likely join Mamata Banerjee led All India Trinamool Congress party at 4 pm today. Sources have said that Mukherjee will quit Congress and join TMC on Monday evening.

Earlier, Abhijit Mukherjee had dispelled such speculations and said that he is not going to leave Congress. "I remain in the Congress and reports that I am joining Trinamool or any other party are not correct," Mukherjee, a former Lok Sabha MP and Congress Campaign Committee chairman during the assembly elections, told the PTI over phone on June 11.

The former Congress MP from Jangipur has been in talks with the TMC leadership for the past few weeks. Abhijit Mukherjee had also met Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata last month.

Speculation about Abhijit Mukherjee leaving Congress started making rounds a month ago when Jitin Prasada left the party and joined the saffron team.

Abhijit Mukherjee is known to have good relations with Jitin Prasada, who joined the BJP few weeks ago, when they were colleagues in the Congress Parliamentary Party, and the Late President was also known to be fond of him and his father Jitendra Prasada.

Earlier, Mukherjee, an engineer-turned politician who won twice from Jangipur constituency, had said in a lighter vein: "I am nearly 300 km away from the Trinamool Bhavan right now, sitting in Jangipur House... so, unless someone can teleport me, it would be impossible for me to join any party this afternoon."

But now sources have confirmed that he will be inducted in TMC later in the day.

According to sources, he will be inducted into the party by TMC leader Sudip Bandopadyay.

Mukherjee's inductment into TMC comes after weeks of talks between him and the party; which has impacted his relationship with the Congress. Mukherjee's favourable relationship with Mamata comes acongruous to Congress' outlook, whose leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has expressed severe dislike towards Mamata on innumerable occasions.

Abhijit's anti-BJP stand fostered this political change inspite of the relationship between his father and PM Narendra Modi along with BJP's top leadership being always cordial.

In fact, Mamata, whose party now inducts Mukherjee with fanfare, had once opposed Pranab Mukherjee's presidential candidature.

Abhijit's decision is not influencing other members of his family. His sister, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, however, will continue to remain a Congress leader in Delhi.

(With inputs from Manogya Loiwal)