West Bengal: ‘Courtesy call’ stirs rumours of BJP neta’s return to TMC

HOWRAH: Former state minister-turned-BJP leader

Rajib Banerjee

made an hour-long “courtesy call” to Trinamool Congress general secretary

Kunal Ghosh

on Saturday, sparking speculation of a second blow to the saffron camp after Mukul Roy’s ‘ghar wapsi’.


While Banerjee was in the talks, posters appeared in Bankra under Domjur assembly constituency from Bankra Trinamool Congress against his possible re-inclusion into the Trinamool fold. A few days ago, similar posters were visible in Howrah’s Salap.

Banerjee timed the “courtesy call” after his controversial post on social media against the BJP’s “over-dependence” on Delhi on the day when Bengal BJP had called a state office-bearers’ meet. Banerjee didn’t attend it.

On Saturday, the former minister reached Ghosh’s residence around 5.30 pm after “meeting an ailing relative”. The car in which he was travelling carried a Trinamool logo on its windscreen. Banerjee stayed there for an hour.

Banerjee had joined the BJP in January after holding a series of talks with Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee at his Naktala residence. “The government has come with a huge mandate just a month back. If anyone tries to dislodge this government by imposing President’s rule or tries to create disturbances over communal lines, people will reject that,” Banerjee said after the meeting.

While Banerjee refrained from commenting on his future stance, he said: “While in the BJP I opposed division on the lines of religion. I am opposed to that even today. But you should not interpret my visit today as a step towards any political decision.”

Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh used his Twitter handle and said: “If a wilted leaf falls, it does no damage to the tree. In fact, the tree gets filled with new leaves and gets a new vigour.”

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