- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Pramod Kumar
THE national vice-president of prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to returning to the Trinamool Congress headed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, local media reported on Friday (11).
The final decision regarding Mukul Roy’s rejoining will only be taken after his meeting with the TMC top brass in Kolkata, reports added.
According to reports, BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Rajib Banerjee were not present at a recent meeting of the party’s West Bengal unit.
Roy, son Subhranshu will return to Banerjee’s party, sources said.
The Bengal BJP, on the other hand, has shown indifference over Roy’s possible defection to the Trinamool Congress, reported The Hindustan Times.
Roy, once a veteran leader of Trinamool Congress and close aide of Banerjee, had a falling-out with the party supremo after being named an accused in the Narada sting operation case back in 2017.
After being suspended for six years over “anti-party activities”, Roy eventually left the Trinamool Congress, giving up his Rajya Sabha seat in October that year, before joining the BJP in November.
His son joined the party in 2019. In September 2020, Mukul Roy was made the national vice-president of the BJP.
Also read: Bengal BJP downplays Mukul Roy return to Trinamool Congress
Roy’s position in the BJP was debated in select political circles following the recently conducted 2021 West Bengal legislative assembly elections, which saw the Trinamool Congress receiving an overwhelming public mandate to retain power.
Roy won the Krishnanagar North seat in Nadia district, the only time he ever contested elections, his son was defeated from the Bijpur seat.
Abhishek Banerjee, the recently appointed national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, reported to have made a visit to a hospital in Kolkata last month where Roy’s wife Krishna was admitted for Covid treatment.
Reports also said that Modi later dialed Roy up, reportedly to enquire about his wife’s health.
