Tennis champion Leander Paes and actor Nafisa Ali joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the presence of party supremo Mamata Banerjee and senior leader Derek O’Brien in Goa on Friday, ahead of the assembly polls due early next year.
Paes, an 18-time Grand Slam winner, was born in Kolkata and spent some of his college years in the Bengal capital; his father Vece Paes is a Goan. Kolkata-born Nafisa Ali, meanwhile, has been living in Goa for the past few years. “For me, whether it is in Bengal or whether it is in Goa, or whether it is playing at Wimbledon...it is about making India proud and in that, now living in Goa I would like to make a difference in my roots... it is the largest and fastest growing democratic country in the world and I would like to be a part of it and make a difference as I can,” Paes said.
Welcoming Paes, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “I was the sports minister of the country when I (first) met him (Paes)... I have got my younger brother in the TMC.”
Ali said she joined the Trinamool to help it take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that the TMC was best-placed to do so. “The only leader today that can take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and [union home minister] Amit Shah’s brand of politics is Mamata Banerjee… The BJP needs to be addressed in all sincerity and Mamata has proved that she and she alone can become the tigress that can take on the likes of Modi,” she said. Ali was earlier affiliated with the Congress, and took on Banerjee in 2004, contesting on a Congress ticket in the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat.
{{/usCountry}}Ali said she joined the Trinamool to help it take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that the TMC was best-placed to do so. “The only leader today that can take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and [union home minister] Amit Shah’s brand of politics is Mamata Banerjee… The BJP needs to be addressed in all sincerity and Mamata has proved that she and she alone can become the tigress that can take on the likes of Modi,” she said. Ali was earlier affiliated with the Congress, and took on Banerjee in 2004, contesting on a Congress ticket in the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat.
{{/usCountry}}“The important thing today is that there can be a Nehru Congress, an Indira Congress, and this is a Mamata Trinamool Congress… When the nation needs us, it is important to unite…”
“The Congress has let its voters down and Mamata Banjerjee is the new Congress of India. The TMC can fight against a hate-filled agenda that divides secular India,” she added.
Reacting to the development, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said he was not worried. “I believe that besides the BJP and Congress -- BJP will be in ruling and Congress will be in opposition -- other parties won’t have an impact. Finally, it depends on the voters,” he said.
The Congress, meanwhile, accused the TMC of being the B-team of BJP . “They are not here to win, but to ensure that the BJP wins. What other reason do they have for entering Goa. Their game plan is clear,” party spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said.