Kolkata: Amid speculations that he might return to the Trinamool Congress, BJP national vice president Mukul Roy and West Bengal Chief Minister have reached the party headquarters here on Friday.  Other senior party leaders, including minister Subrata Mukherjee, were also present at the Trinamool Bhavan off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.

Meanwhile, all eyes are set on Mamata Banerjee’s presser at 4:30 PM where Roy and his son are expected to formally return to the TMC. The development came days after TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said that they have discussed the ‘ghar wapsi’ of TMC leaders who quit the party and joined BJP before elections and the final call regarding this will be taken by Mamata Banerjee.

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In 2017, Roy, once a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, had joined the BJP, claiming that people of West Bengal wanted an alternative to Chief Minister, and will vote the saffron party to power in the next polls.

The former railway minister, known for his organisational skills, had joined the BJP in the presence of its then chief Amit Shah. Before his defection, Roy had quit the Rajya Sabha. He was suspended by the party earlier as his differences with Banerjee grew and he was seen veering towards the BJP.

However, Trinamool Congress’ attitude towards Roy has changed and it was evident when Mamata Banerjee in her election campaign termed Roy as ‘Bhalo Chele’ (Good Boy) and it was followed by Abhishek Banerjee’s visit to the hospital to see Roy’s wife.

Though Roy was not present during his visit, Abhishek met his son Subhrangshu Roy and both of them had a discussion of more than half-an-hour. Subhrangshu was all praise for Abhishek after the meeting.

Just after Abhishek’s visit, state BJP President rushed to the hospital to see Roy’s wife and the next day Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Roy to enquire about his wife’s health. Though Roy ignored the speculation and announced that he was a BJP worker and will continue to work for the party but his skipping of several BJP meetings, including the first state legislative committee meeting and the BJP state committee meeting only supported the speculation.

Apart from Roy, several former TMC leaders have expressed their willingness to come back to the party. Sonali Guha who had left the party for not getting a party ticket in the assembly election said that she had left the party out of extreme emotion and in a fit of rage, but now she has realised that she “has made a huge mistake”.

In an emotional tweet to Mamata the former MLA of TMC wrote, “Sekhane (BJP) nijeke maniye nite parini. Mach jemon jol chara thakte pare na, temoni ami apnake chara banchte parbo na. Didi ami khomaprathri, daya kore amake khoma kore din. Apni na khoma kore ami banchbo na (which roughly translates into — just like a fish she feels out of water in the BJP. She cannot fit in with the BJP. She cannot live without Banerjee and if her Chief Minister did not forgive her, she will perish)”.

Expressing her willingness to join the TMC again, the former deputy speaker of the assembly wrote, “Apnar aanchaler tole amake tene niye baki jibonta amake apnar snehatole thakar sujog kore din (Take me under your fold and allow me to live the rest of my life under your guidance and blessing)”.

Sarala Murmu who was allotted a ticket for Habibpur assembly constituency left the party in March and joined BJP alleging that the district leaders were not allowing her to work. Though sources in the party said that she left the party because she wanted to contest from Malda South.

(With agency inputs)