A day after four-time MLA Sonali Guha, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging that she be allowed to return to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) two other former Trinamool leaders, Sarala Murmu and Amal Acharya, have also expressed their wish to leave the BJP and rejoin the State’s ruling party.
Interestingly, Sarala Murmu was given a ticket by the TMC to contest from the Habibpur Assembly seat in Malba, but she turned down the offer and joined BJP. “Didi (Ms. Banerjee) has given a message to all those who left the party out of anger or hurt that they can return to her party. I am responding to that call. If she accepts us back then, most certainly, we will stay with Didi and work with Didi,” Ms. Murmu told journalists on Sunday.
The other leader who has made a similar appeal is former two-time MLA Amal Acharjee, who had also quit and joined the BJP just two weeks before the elections after being denied a ticket by TMC. “I joined the BJP and worked for them for a few days out of anger and frustration after being denied a ticket; it was not out of any ideological shift,” Mr. Acharjee said. The former MLA from Itahar in Uttar Dinajpur has also written to the senior party leadership urging that he be allowed to rejoin the party.
On Saturday, Ms. Guha wrote to the Chief Minster saying that it was mistake on her part to join the BJP and that she wanted to return to the Trinamool Congress.
‘Not for 6 months’
The senior Trinamool Congress leadership on Sunday reacted to the developments. Senior party leader and MP Saugata Roy said that there should be a moratorium for at least six months for leaders from the BJP to return to the TMC. “A final decision will be taken by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but my suggestion is that there should be moratorium for six months. Our supporters have suffered a lot during the elections because of such leaders,” Mr. Roy said.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that not just the three, there were quite a few leaders who had left the TMC for the BJP and now wanted to come back. Mr. Ghosh said that at present the party was busy tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and no decision on their return had been taken as yet.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said that there were many who joined the BJP thinking that the party would come to power. “If they think they committed a mistake by joining the BJP, they are free to correct it,” he said.