Kolkata: Former TMC leader Sovan Chatterjee, who had quit BJP after a two-year stint, on Wednesday visited the residence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the occasion of 'Bhai Phonta'. Chatterjee, who had joined the BJP in 2019 following differences with the TMC leadership, went to the TMC chief's residence in the Kalighat area of the city along with his close friend Baishakhi Bandopadhyay.
He had quit BJP after the 2021 assembly elections following differences with the saffron party. Since then the former Kolkata Mayor has been trying to inch closer to the Trinamool Congress and last year went to state secretariat Nabanna to meet the chief minister. "I had known Mamata di for the last four decades since 1979. We share a bond of an elder sister and younger brother, and nothing can break this bond," the former four-time MLA told newspersons waiting outside the CM's house.
'Bhai Phonta' or 'Bhai Dooj' celebrates the bonding between brothers and sisters. According to TMC sources, Chatterjee has been sending feelers to the party's leadership and wanted to return to his former party. In 2019 too, just two months after joining the BJP, he had turned up at Banerjee's residence for Bhai phonta.
Banerjee is known to have played a key role in shaping Chatterjee's political career, which like her had begun in the Youth Congress, before reaching the top echelons of the TMC. Chatterjee was asked by Banerjee to resign from his post as both minister and Kolkata Mayor in November 2018 following problems in his personal life.
Apart from Chatterjee, several top TMC leaders and ministers arrived at Banerjee's Kalighat residence on the occasion of Bhai phonta. "My Bhai phonta starts at Didi's house every year and this year too there has been no difference," TMC minister Aroop Biswas said after visiting the CM's residence. Politicians cutting across party lines indulged in the festivities and they took part in the Bhai-Phonta ceremony. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar participated in the Bhai phonta ceremony at the party office.
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