West Bengal: Jolt to BJP, actress Srabonti Chattopadhyay quits saffron party

Actress-turned-politician Srabonti Chattopadhyay has announced that she is severing ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Meanwhile, BJP leader Tathagata Roy became vocal against BJP leadership’s fascination for celebrities.

Kolkata:Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal has been grappling with party members' exodus. The new addition to the list is actress-turned-politician Srabonti Chattopadhyay. Taking to Twitter, Chattopadhyay announced that she is severing ties with the BJP. She cited party's lack of initiative and sincerity towards West Bengal's development as the reason for her quitting.

”Severing all ties with the BJP, the party for which I fought the last state elections. Reason being their lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of Bengal...” However, she has not made it clear whether she will be joining Trinamool Congress or not.

Meanwhile, following her announcement, BJP leader Tathagata Roy, who had always been against roping in silver screen celebrities, has once again become vocal against the state leadership of the party.

Soon after Chattopadhyay’s Tweet became viral, Roy re-tweeted a number of his earlier Tweets posted ahead of this year's Assembly polls. He had expressed reservations about roping in silver screen celebrities and giving them nominations for the polls.

Chattopadhyay joined BJP in March 2021, just before the state assembly elections. The then central observer of BJP for West Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya, welcomed her to the party by handing over the saffron flag.

Chattopadhyay had said that she was inspired by her father, who was an officer of the Indian army, to join politics. She also said that she want to be a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development initiatives.

She also contested for BJP from Behala (West) assembly constituency against the state commerce and industry minister and Trinamool Congress secretary-general, Partha Chattopadhyay. However, she was defeated. Since then she started distancing herself from BJP and stopped attending party functions.