Farmers Movement Archive

One more Trinamool MLA quits party, likely to join BJP

Defections from the Trinamool Congress continue unabated. On Monday, Diamond Harbour MLA Dipak Kumar Halder resigned from the party. Diamond Harbour, located in South 24 Parganas district, was a constituency that voted overwhelmingly for Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee in 2019. A few days ago, Mr. Halder met former Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who had defected from the Trinamool to the BJP more than two years ago. The meeting and his subsequent resignation have fuelled speculation that Mr. Halder is all set join the BJP. After tendering his resignation, he said that he wanted to work for the people of his constituency. According to the reports, Mr. Halder will join the BJP on Tuesday at a rally in the district, where BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is likely to be present. The development comes after five Trinamool leaders, including three MLAs, joined the BJP on Saturday. In another development, Trinamool MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who has been expressing differences with organisational issues, did not participate in protest programmes against the three Central farm bills organised in his constituency. Mr. Bhattacharya, a retired school master, is a veteran MLA from Singur and had played a crucial role in the fight against forcible land acquisition. From three to 30 MLAs The BJP had only three MLAs in West Bengal after the 2016 Assembly polls. The number has increased now to almost 30. The number in the 2019 bypolls increased to six. In the past one and a half years, more than 20 MLAs from the Trinamool Congress, the Left parties and the Congress have joined the BJP, taking the number to 30.

The Hindu

2021-02-02

Kolkata