Mukul Roy, the veteran politician in Bengal – who had shifted to the BJP, but had made a ‘comeback’ to his former party – on Wednesday, told a section of media that he was with the BJP, is with the BJP, and will continue to remain with it. He also expressed willingness to meet senior BJP leaders Amit Shah, and JP Nadda.
Roy had gone ‘missing’, but re-emerged in a surprising move, in Delhi on Monday evening, as was observed in a viral video.
A day earlier on Tuesday, Roy’s son Subhranshu had claimed that his father was not keeping well, and was being subjected to dirty politics in such a situation. He had further claimed that the attempt, he personally considered, was to malign Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s national general secretary. Subhranshu had even filed a missing complaint at a local police station concerning Roy, late on Monday.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday, said that Roy is a BJP MLA. “It depends upon him where he goes, it can be Delhi or Punjab. His son has filed a missing complaint and the police will investigate the matter,” Banerjee said.
In Bengal, the BJP seems apparently less keen on Roy, with Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA, and leader of the Opposition in state assembly, saying that the party was busy in strengthening the organisational structure.
An important leader in Trinamool’s emergence in West Bengal, Roy had walked over to the BJP in 2017, with differences between him and Banerjee, as one among factors. He stayed with the BJP as a national vice-president, and after the 2021 elections, made a ‘return’, publicly to the Trinamool, though he retains his official status of a BJP MLA in the state assembly.
Trinamool chief on Opposition unity:
Banerjee has said that the country’s Opposition parties are together. ”We believe that silence is golden, hence we are all quiet now. But before the polls, like a tornado, we will come together as every opposition party shares good rapport with each other,” she said on Wednesday.