TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari may join BJP during Amit Shah’s Bengal visit

Adhikari is said to be specifically unhappy with Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and election strategist Prashant Kishor’s role in the party.

Former cabinet minister and heavyweight Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Suvendu Adhikari is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the poll-bound state later this week.

Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the West Bengal cabinet last month and relinquished two administrative posts. (HT Archives)

Adhikari’s aides and BJP leaders told HT that decks are being cleared for his formal joining. There were strong rumours that he would switch over to the saffron camp ever since he challenged the TMC leadership last month and peace talks failed to bridge the differences.

Shah will be in Bengal on December 19 and 20. He will address rallies in at least three districts, including East Midnapore where Adhikari, his father and two brothers represent two Lok Sabha constituencies and an assembly seat. They also run the civic body at Contai, their hometown. Adhikari is elected from the Nandigram seat.

“It has been decided so far that neither Shah nor party president J P Nadda will hand over the party flag to Adhikari in public to induct him into the BJP. This formality will be done by either Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh or some senior national leader,” a senior state BJP leader told HT on Tuesday afternoon. Ghosh did not comment on the record on this.

The 50-year-old rebel TMC leader, who resigned from the cabinet last month and relinquished two administrative posts, is planning to visit Delhi on Thursday to talk to the BJP national leadership.

Senior TMC leaders said in private that Adhikari is specifically unhappy with Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and election strategist Prashant Kishor who was roped in by the chief minister after the BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.

Adhikari made significant remarks at a non-political programme on Tuesday morning. “Those who insulted me will face the same fate as Anil Basu, Benoy Konar and Laxman Seth when people cast their votes in a few months,” said Adhikari. The three CPI(M) leaders he mentioned faced electoral defeat and disciplinary action as well.

“One must remember that the land agitation at Nandigram was a people’s movement and not that of an individual or any party,” Adhikari said at the programme held to pay homage to noted freedom fighter Satish Samanta.

His statement was significant because it was Adhikari who steered the agitation against acquisition of land which started after 14 villagers were killed in police firing at Nandigram on March 14, 2007. The land movement, which was held under the banner of Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), a platform against land acquisition that even the Maoists supported secretly, helped Banerjee overthrow the Left Front government.

“Adhikari will announce himself when he will join the BJP. The TMC and Prashant Kishor will soon witness many more joining the saffron camp because of the policies being followed by the ruling party,” said Kanishka Panda, an Adhikari aide who was expelled from the TMC two days ago. He was the TMC’s general secretary in East Midnapore.

Suvendu Adhikari’s followers are elected from several assembly segments not only in East Midnapore but other districts as well. He was the TMC’s election observer in several districts including Murshidabad where Muslims are in majority.