Future tense, Mukul Roy reaches out to RSS chief

KOLKATA: A studied silence of the BJP brass in Delhi following Mukul Roy's resignation from the Trinamool Congress Working Committee seems to have put a question mark on his future political course, prompting the rebel leader to make a desperate bid to build bridges with Mohan Bhagwat after the RSS chief reached Kolkata on Monday night.

According to Roy loyalists, a lot depends on the meeting that senior BJP leader - joint secretary (organization) Shiv Prakash - will be having with the party karyakartas in Kolkata on Tuesday . Roy's case is likely to come up at the meeting.

Problem is that BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has communicated his inability to attend the meet because of health issues.

"BJP national president Amit Shah, during his recent Kolkata visit, had laid down a roadmap for the party workers. We take stock of the progress from time to time," said Shiv Prakash. Asked about Roy , the BJP leader said: "Mukul Roy is a senior leader. He can meet anyone he wants. I have recei ved no information or request from him to meet me. Whether or not he will join the BJP is a decision which finally rests on the party's central lea dership. We cannot speak on it. We can only inform the leadership about our tho ughts. " Some state BJP seniors have already given the leaders hip a piece of their mind over the inclusion of the Saradha accused in the party.

"Some state party leaders, as you mention, may be opposed to the induction of Mukul Roy in the party fold due to the charges against him. This will also be conveyed to the party central leadership. When a decision is finally taken, it will factor in all such aspects," said Shiv Prakash.

The BJP's staying noncommittal for now may prolong the waiting period for the suspended Trinamool leader when he had set an October deadline for quitting the party. What is worse, Roy doesn't have a single Trinamool leader to take his side though many are reportedly in touch with the BJP. Roy has with him BJP - turned Trinamool leader from Uttar Dinajpur Subhro Roy Chowdhury, who tendered his resignation from Trinamool Congress on Sunday.

"I was a member of the BJP state committee. I joined Trinamool inspired by Mukul Roy. Now when Mukul Roy is no more with Trinamool, I see no reason to continue in the party," Roy Chowdhury said in his resignation letter.

But this is not enough for a section of the RSS that sees no point getting into a direct confrontation with Mamata Banerjee in Bengal for now, leaving broad hints why Roy is eager to meet the RSS chief, who is in town to speak on the 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita at the Science City auditorium on Tuesday.