TMC cracks with Suvendu's exit, Shah rally could change Bengal's political hue

Ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress seems to be in troubled waters with the exit of Suvendu Adhikari who is all set to join the saffron party on Saturday. The speculations are rife that as many as 12 sitting Trinamool MLAs could switch sides following Suvendu's exit, writes ETV Bharat's News Coordinator Dipankar Bose.

Hyderabad: The Pandora's box is now open!

With the exit of Suvendu Adhikari from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and with speculations rife that he will be marching to the saffron camp on Saturday in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, more and more Trinamool functionaries are gradually making a beeline behind Adhikari.

That Suvendu will be severing ties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party, which had once given the standing, was clear as daylight.

Fervent appeals to high decibel criticisms, nothing had cut the ice. The rift between the Adhikaris of Kanthi in Purba Midnapore and Trinamool Congress simply widened.

Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee's meteoric rise in the party and the induction of Prashant Kishore to run the backroom of Trinamool's election campaign for the 2021 Assembly polls, was not palatable for many. Disgruntled voices were only rising and now the steady grapevine is, as many as 12 sitting Trinamool MLAs could switch sides once Suvendu steps on the dais with Shah at the Medinipur college grounds.

Within hours of Suvendu quitting as an MLA, Jitendra Tiwari, Trinamool MLA from Pandabeshwar; Barrackpore MLA Shilbhadra Dutta; Banasri Maity, Trinamool MLA from Kanthi Uttar (North) and Bankura district vice-president of the party Shyamaprasad Mukhopadhyay, quit Trinamool Congress.

Diptanshu Chowdhury, the chairman of a transport corporation, has also stepped down. All of them could be on stage with Amit Shah tomorrow.

Alongside Jitendra, another Trinamool MLA from Paschim Bardhaman district and a close associate of now-deceased TMC MLA Manik Upadhyay could switch sides.

Joining his hands, another TMC MLA who is a known confidant Mukul Roy could be seen accepting the lotus flag.

At least two TMC MLAs from Howrah who have been vocal against party functioning for quite some time and could join the queue.

One of BJP's big catch would be to drive a wedge in South 24 Parganas district, a district where from Abhishek Banerjee is an MP.

The grapevine is, at least one TMC MLA from South 24 Parganas could be seen in the Medinipur college grounds tomorrow.

A Congress MLA from Purulia district and a CPI(M) MLA from Purba Medinipur have already narrowed their distance with BJP and both could be seen switching sides.

A Trinamool MP from Purba Bardhaman had opened his gates yesterday to Suvendu, soon after he resigned as a member of the West Bengal Assembly.

The late evening meeting at the MP's residence was attended by several TMC leaders and functionaries.

This MP could be seen hand in hand with Suvendu tomorrow at Shah's Medinipur rally.

Shah will be reaching Kolkata later tonight and is scheduled to meet NIA officers early tomorrow morning.

He is then slated to visit Swami Vivekananda's ancestral home in north Kolkata and pay his tributes.

Later he will reach Medinipur to pay his respects to freedom fighter and martyr Khudiram Bose and offer puja at two temples. He will then address the rally at Medinipur college grounds.

On Sunday, the Union Home Minister is scheduled to hold talks with his party leadership and then travel to Birbhum and visit Shantiniketan.

Shah's visit comes at a time when the Centre and the state government are at loggerheads over the transfer of three IPS officers on central deputation.

The Union Home Ministry had sought the officers on deputation after the convoy of BJP national president JP Nadda's convoy was attacked last week, while he was on his way to Diamond Harbour from Kolkata to attend a party programme.

All eyes will be on Shah's rally on Saturday at Medinipur to see if the speculations hold any water and how the state's political hues take a different turn from there.