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Two weeks after joining BJP, former Kolkata mayor wants to quit
Both of them met BJP general secretary in charge of Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya, on Thursday evening to express their grievances against some state leaders.
Unhappy with a section of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bengal leaders, former Trinamool Congress minister and Kolkata mayor Sovan Chattejee and his friend Baisakhi Banerjee are talking about leaving the party 17 days after joining.
The differences have cropped up over invitations to certain party functions not being sent to Banerjee and some BJP leaders keen on inducting former actress and TMC MLA Debashree Roy.
Both of them met BJP general secretary in charge of Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya, on Thursday evening to express their grievances against some state leaders.
“I told Vijayvargiya that it is not possible for me to stay in the BJP even for a second after the personal attacks. If we can stay in the BJP without honour then we could have stayed back in TMC as well. Sovan Chatterjee told me that he joined the BJP only because I encouraged him to do so. I was the bridge between him and the party. He said he cannot stay in the party if I face personal attacks,” Banerjee, who was a leader in the TMC’s college teachers’ front, said on Saturday.
“Chatterjee also told Vijayvargiya that he wants to be relieved of all responsibilities and will give his resignation in writing if required,” said Banerjee.
Chatterjee was in Delhi on Saturday and was not available for comment. He and Banerjee refer to each other as “inseparable friends.”
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “All those who join the BJP get an opportunity to work for the party. They have to decide what they want to do. We don’t induct someone to show him the door but staying or leaving is a personal decision.”
Differences between the duo and a section of BJP leaders came out in the open soon after the induction on August 14. When BJP’s Bengal unit formally introduced Chatterjee before the media, statements made by Banerjee caused embarrassment for the party.
In the mail sent out to the media, the Bengal BJP unit did not mention Banerjee’s name and she started making public statements, airing her grievance. This forced the BJP media cell coordinator to apologise to her. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh tried to play down the issue and jokingly said that Banerjee and Chatterjee were inseparable as daal and rice. Banerjee took exception to this as well and made some cold remarks at the press conference while Ghosh was sitting beside her.
While all this was going on, a popular Bengali news channel started airing statements by Chatterjee’s wife against whom he has filed a divorce suit. Chatterjee’s wife started washing dirty linen in public. A number of BJP leaders saw this as a major embarrassment for the party.
A college teacher, Banerjee is a newcomer in active politics and has only held a post in the TMC’s professors’ front for a couple of years.
