Comments
Former Railway Minister and one of Trinamool Congress’s public faces Dinesh Trivedi announced his resignation in Parliament on Friday, magnifying the exodus from Mamata Banerjee’s party that faces Assembly polls shortly. The BJP, which is ascendant, promptly laid out a welcome mat saying whoever is “good and works for the welfare of the State” is welcome to the party.
A veteran in the TMC, Trivedi, the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, said he was quitting the poll-bound TMC because he was unhappy with the way it is being run. Though he did not mention names, Trivedi is believed to be miffed with the high-profile election strategist Prashant Kishore who has been helping the TMC’s poll campaign.
‘Ethical reasons’
Trivedi is also believed to be upset with his more aggressive colleagues, Derek O’Brien and some others, who have been pursuing a belligerent anti-BJP line in Parliament. On the face of it, Trivedi did not seem to be wanting to go the “Jyotiraditya way” (the Congress’s most talked-about turncoat) whose departure cost the party the government in Madhya Pradesh. But sources said he was very likely working out a deal with the BJP.
Officially, he maintained that his reasons for quitting the TMC, are “ethical”.
His statement in the Rajya Sabha seemed to be a veiled attack on Prashant Kishore. “When the party goes into the hands of a corporate professional. No one has time to listen. Somebody who does not know the ABC of politics has now become my neta (leader). So what can people do in such a situation? The daily fights, the daily abuse of each other – you can’t run the country like that,” said Trivedi.
BJP delighted
The BJP seemed delighted with the proceedings. The party’s West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said in Kolkata that because the BJP wants to improve governance in West Bengal, anyone who wishes to work for the welfare of the State is welcome.
“In the politics of Bengal, whoever is honest and wants to work for the society and the people, cannot stay in TMC any more. Anyone who has integrity cannot function in the TMC. I feel that Dinesh-ji has made it too late. He had told me a year back when I met him in the airport that things have become unbearable in the TMC. There has been no official talks with him yet. But as I said before, anyone who is good is welcome,” said Vijayvargiya.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.