variednews: Big jolt to TMC; Veteran leader Mukul Roy Joins BJ...

variednews: Big jolt to TMC; Veteran leader Mukul Roy Joins BJ...: New Delhi, Nov 3: In a significant political development that could have considerable ramifications in the political scenario of West ...

Big jolt to TMC; Veteran leader Mukul Roy Joins BJP

New Delhi, Nov 3: In a significant political development that could have considerable ramifications in the political scenario of West Bengal, Mukul Roy, once a close confidante of Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee joined the saffron brigade on Thursday. Earlier Roy had resigned from the Trinamool party following a series of incidents that had reduced him to a virtual non entity in the political outfit.

Roy a founder member of the party was known for his organizational skills in mobilizing party workers and utilizing them to good effect during the time of electoral activities.

Roy joined the BJP at the party headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. Sources close to the top BJP leadership said that the veteran’s inclusion in the party would give the much needed fillip to the West Bengal unit of the BJP.

Roy was suspended from the Trinamool for six years in the wake of his revelation that he would quit the party in October. After the TMC decided to strip Roy of the various positions he enjoyed, the veteran TMC leader relinquished his Rajya Sabha membership and resigned from the TMC earlier this month.

Some political observers feel that Roy’s decision to join the BJP could put the TMC in an awkward position as he was once considered the second most important leader in the party next to Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee while others are of the opinion that Roy’s decision to join the saffron brigade could force Mamata to chalk out a strategy to offset this development.

A senior leader in the TMC observed that though the TMC is claiming that Mukul’s decision to quit the party could have little or no impact on the functioning of the TMC, it could in effect be jittery about this abrupt turn of events.