Expelled TMC MP stays with me out of fear: Mukul Roy

KOLKATA: BJP leader Mukul Roy on Monday upped the ante against the Mamata Banerjee government, saying expelled Trinamool Congress MP Anupam Hazra from Bolpur was staying at his house after facing threats from the ruling party.

“Anupam Hazra is not the only one. Several TMC leaders are facing flak from the party for raising their voice. Their lives are at stake. Hazra is staying in my house as he fears an attack,” he said.

Roy made this public on a day TMC and BJP workers clashed at many plac-es (Chilkirhaat in Cooch Behar, Bodaganj near Jalpaiguri and Garbeta in West Midnapore) while the latter were taking out Vijay Sankalpa rallies.

Hazra, known as a Roy loyalist, has been a strong critic of Trinamool. After Roy joined BJP, Hazra started distancing himself from the party after he raised questions about the party’s functioning. He also made controversial posts in social media till the party showed him the door in January. Roy claimed another TMC MP (Saumitra Khan) who defected to BJP a few months ago, was being slapped with false cases.

A Bengal BJP delegation on Monday met the chief electoral officer to lodge a co-mplaint. “How could police officers transferred by EC stay put in the districts? That defeats the purpose of transfers and ensuring the rule of law before polls,” Roy said.