Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party is believed to be toying with the idea of sending Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's father Sisir Adhikari to the Rajya Sabha. In that case, the senior Adhikari may be a President Ram Nath Kovid-nominated candidate. The saffron camp sources revealed that one of the top leaders at the national level has already pitched the idea to Sisir Adhikari.
BJP sources said that the matter was even discussed in a closed-door meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a few other Bengal BJP leaders. Sisir Adhikari's BJP leader Suvendu was also in the meeting. However, Sisir Adhikari said that he is not aware of any such move. "I am not aware of anything," he told ETV Bharat.
Despite being a Trinamool Congress (TMC) Parliamentarian from the Kanthi constituency, Sisir Adhikari distanced himself from the TMC following Suvendu's switch over to BJP from the Trinamool Congress. The veteran leader was also seen separately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister in two rallies in Kanthi prior to the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021.
Trinamool Congress however refused to give any importance to the issue and dubbed Sisir as a "betrayer". TMC General Secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said "I can't say. He is a traitor. He had switched sides after winning on a Trinamool ticket from Kanthi. He must be getting the reward for betrayal. He has lost all respect. He can't even get out of his house or walk in his own neighborhood. If anyone gets the reward of betrayal, that is his business. We don't know."
However, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar refused to comment on the matter. "This is an internal matter of the party and we can't talk about this in public," Majumdar said.
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