Former Union Minister and serving MP of Asansol, Babul Supriyo, becomes the fifth prominent BJP leader to join Trinamool Congress
Kolkata: Former Union Minister Babul Supriyo has joined Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress today, a month after saying that he would quit politics and wouldn’t join any other party. The news came as a shocker to the political enthusiasts in the city.
“All of these have happened within four days. If an opportunity comes your way, you decide, and I have decided to take it,” Babul Supriyo said at a press meet after joining the party in the presence of National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.
Babul Supriyo’s probable reason for quitting BJP
Former Union minister Babul Supriyo has cited that some unknown limitations were imposed on him that created troubles while doing humanitarian work as a BJP MP. This had forced him to quit politics. “It is not a politics of revenge. I have taken this opportunity from my heart,” he said.
Two months ago, he was asked to resign as a junior minister at the Environment Ministry by the BJP amidst the Cabinet reshuffle. Following this, Supriyo announced his decision to quit politics on social media. Supriyo had then tweeted that he was surely sad about himself, which he later changed to “I am extremely happy that I go today without a spot of corruption on me.”
Supriyo then met with party president JP Nadda who had asked him to reconsider his decision. Later, after the meeting, he said that he would remain as MP.
The political band of the city is now speculating that Supriyo will replace Arpita Ghosh as Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP after the latter suddenly resigned to focus on organizational work.
Supriyo becomes fifth BJP leader to join TMC
Babul Supriyo becomes the fifth BJP stalwart leader to join Trinamool Congress after Banerjee’s thumping victory in 2021 polls. Earlier in September and August, four other BJP MLAs have joined the green brigade.
On September 5, BJP’s Kaliaganj MLA Soumen Roy had joined TMC in Kolkata, effecting the first legislative defection in the north Bengal and fourth in overall Bengal. Before him, BJP MLAs Mukul Roy, Tanmoy Ghosh, and Biswajit Das had joined TMC. These defections have lowered the total number of BJP MLAs in Bengal to 71.
Meanwhile, a prominent leader of BJP’s West Bengal unit, Samik Bhattacharya said that Babul Supriyo has ‘cheated’ with the party. “A few days back, he had tweeted seeking support for the BJP candidate in the Bhabanipur bypolls. He has cheated the party,” Bhattacharya added.
Recently, Babul was selected as a star campaigner for BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal in the upcoming Bhabanipur bypolls. He had politely denied the role. Supriyo has also said that he will quit his position as MP of the Asansol constituency after joining TMC.
Babul Supriyo’s political career
The singer-turned-politician Supriyo made his political debut by winning the 2014 General Assembly polls from the Asansol constituency. He was then rewarded with the Ministry of State for Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Housing, and Urban Poverty Alleviation. Supriyo became the youngest minister and served in these ministries till July 2016. His portfolio was then changed to Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
In the 2019 general election, Babul Supriyo again won from the Asansol as a BJP candidate defeating TMC’s Moon Moon Sen by 1.97 lakh votes. In May 2019, he became Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.
His astounding victory in the 2019 polls had led Bharatiya Janata Party to nominate him against Aroop Biswas from the Tollygunge constituency in the 2021 Bengal state polls. He lost the polls by over 50,000 votes.
