Kolkata: Politics does make strange bedfellows. Proving it right yet again today was banker-turned-singer-turned-politician Supriyo Boral aka Babul Supriyo.
Former BJP MP and union minister joined the Trinamool Congress and was welcomed to the party by Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien stood alongside. It was the same Babul Supriyo who had to bite dust earlier this year from the Tollygunge Assembly constituency.
He suffered a hands-down defeat in the hands of Trinamool heavyweight Aroop Biswas. Babul had expressed his displeasure quoting a couple of lines from Tagore's 1921 song - Tomra ja bolo tai bolo, amar lagey na mone (Say whatever you have to say, nothing strikes my mind)- when he was asked to step down from the Environment Ministry as a union minister before the last cabinet reshuffle of the Modi-government on July 7.
Then came a lengthy social media post on July 31 where Babul left ample indications of bidding farewell to politics. This time, taking recourse to another immensely popular Bangla number sung by Hemanta Mukherjee, Babul quoted - Ek gocha rajanigodha hathey niye bollum, chollum (With a bunch of tuberose in hand, goodbye).
There was strife within the faction-ridden Bengal unit of the BJP as the party became the prime opposition party of the state, sidestepping both the Congress and the Left Front. Babul, the two time MP from Asansol was not comfortable when he was asked by the BJP to contest the Assembly elections from the Tollygunge seat in the southern fringes of Kolkata.
There was no prize in guessing the defeat of Babul from Tollygunge. Venting out his frustration, Babul took to social media saying, "Because I think people of Bengal made a historic mistake by not giving Bharatiya Janata Party a chance and by electing this Corrupt, Incapable, Dishonest government & a cruel lady back to power," his post read.
Also Read: Babul Supriyo joins TMC
Babul had quit his job as a banker and had boarded the Gitanjali Express from Howrah to Mumbai to become a playback singer. He had made his mark. Politics came to him mid-air while he was seated next to Baba Ramdev in a plane. For his July 31 decision, Babul chose the seclusion of his car. Today, however, he had some company at the Camac Street office of Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata.
“Everything happened in the past three days. My family as well as friends had said my decision to quit politics was impulsive and wrong. Now a huge opportunity awaits me. I will work for Bengal now with Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and Abhishek Banerjee to lead me. I will meet Didi on Monday.
I am sure there will be strong reactions from the BJP, but I am very sure about the decision that I have taken today. I know that I have to quit as MP from Asansol as a parliamentary obligation. I am very proud to have joined the Trinamool,” said Babul in his initial reaction after joining the Trinamool Congress adding, “Mamata Banerjee does not need a Babul Supriyo to win from Bhabanipur. It is up to Trinamool Congress how to utilise me in the coming days.”
In his social media post, a union minister for seven years, Babul had said on July 31, “I have to answer one question. There will surely be questions about why I decided to quit politics. Is there a relation with me being left out from the ministry? Yes, there is a relation. At least to some extent... There were some issues with the state leadership before the election as there were differences cropping up.”
Babul Supriyo, the 'jhalmuri man' of Bengal politics had repeatedly hogged the limelight. He had his moments when he shared a popular Bengali snack 'jhalmuri' with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2015 when they briefly met in front of the iconic Victoria Memorial during an ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the city.
He was again in the headlines when he was allegedly heckled by a group of students in Jadavpur University in September 2019 and had to be jostled inside the car of the Governor and whisked out of the campus. Babul Supriyo had bid "Alvida" (Good Bye) to politics, albeit briefly. He is back in a new avatar. Will he be Mamata's card in Rajya Sabha ahead of the UP polls and the 2024 general elections or will the Trinamool use him more vociferously in next year's Tripura Assembly elections pitting him against Biplab Deb? Only time will tell.
Also Read: ‘Will Continue as Asansol MP’: Babul Supriyo announces, days after quitting politics
