Kolkata: The ‘ghar wapsi’ of Mukul Roy and BJP leader Rajib Banerjee’s ‘curtesy meeting’ with Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh on Saturday has raised concerns in both the BJP and TMC corridors in West Bengal.
With an increase in the number of ‘ghar wapsi’ applications, the TMC grassroot leaders are letting their displeasure be known and telling turncoats that they are not welcome in their respective districts.
Senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee on Monday hit out at Rajib Banerjee for meeting Kunal Ghosh at the latter’s residence in Kolkata on Saturday. Kunal Ghosh is West Bengal state secretary of the TMC.
“Rajib Banerjee is big zero. We have done well without him. During the elections he was instrumental in using the central force against our workers. How can he now say he is secular? He has utilised polarisation weapon too,” Kalyan Banerjee said.
Though Rajib claimed that his with Ghosh was a “mere courtesy”, the move had political ramifications. Grassroots level workers who have fought against turncoats are in no mood to welcome them back into the party fold.
In Howrah, from where Rajib hails, TMC won 11 seats and BJP couldn’t manage even one. The TMC workers therefore believe that there is no need to take Rajib and others like him back. In Howrah’s Salabh, rallies were taken out on Monday to protest Rajib’s entry into the TMC.
Sunil Singh, former TMC MLA of Noapara, who switched to the BJP and now has announced his desire to join TMC back, has also been shown disdain with posters up against him across the state.
Then there is Biswajit Das, former TMC MLA of Bongaon, who switched sides before the polls. Posters reading, ‘Durnithibaj dole neowa jabe na’ (we don’t want corrupt people back in the party) have come up against him as well.
In other places, too, the TMC grassroot workers are making it clear that turncoats are not welcome.
TMC sources told News18 that they are in no hurry to take turncoats back and whoever approaching the party now will have to wait.
Rajib, in a Facebook post, raised questions on the use of the polarisation card just after that he was seen meeting the spokesperson, raising several questions on his ‘ghar wapsi’. But with the open hostility by TMC workers, it has become clear for him that the road back home is indeed bumpy.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has herself stated that those who did ‘gaddari’ will not be taken back but whether or not this statement holds true for Rajib remains to be seen.
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