Suvendu Adhikari's meeting with Amit Shah fixed; set for TMC - BJP jump on Dec 19: Sources

Ending weeks of speculation around ex-Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Suvendu Adhikari joining the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, top sources in the party have confirmed that he will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his East Midnapore visit on December 19.

As per sources, Adhikari’s meeting with Shah in Midnapore is fixed and he is set to formally join the saffron party on Saturday. The former TMC legislator from Nandigram constituency, who was disgruntled with the party leadership had tendered his resignation as an MLA of the Bengal Assembly on Wednesday.

Hours after he resigned as MLA, Adhikari held a closed-door meeting with disgruntled TMC leaders including senior MP Sunil Mandal and Asansol civic body chief Jitendra Tiwari, according to PTI.

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Mamata breaks silence on Adhikari's exit

Reacting to Suvendu Adhikari's exit, West Bengal CM and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee said 'people who won't get a ticket are leaving the party’. She lashed out at the saffron party for 'attacking TMC', but added, that the party is as ‘deep-rooted as a Banyan tree'. Soon after resigning, Adhikari also wrote a letter to Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, alleging that the state government was indulging in "political vendetta" against him. He sought the Governor’s intervention so that the police and administration apparatus is dissuaded from implicating him and his associates in criminal cases.

READ | Ex-TMC MLA Suvendu Adhikari Accuses WB Govt Of Police Repression, Seeks Guv's Intervention

Adhikari, who had also resigned from the West Bengal Cabinet on November 27, is yet to exit from the primary membership of the Mamata Banerjee-led party. At present, his brother Dibyendu Adhikari and father Sisir Adhikari are serving as a TMC MLA and MP respectively. The Adhikari family is believed to have an influence in at least 50 Assembly constituencies. The disgruntled TMC leader's move is being perceived as a setback to TMC in the run-up to the WB Assembly polls.

READ | BJP Lauds Resignation Of TMC MLA Suvendu Adhikari; Leaves Door Open For His Induction

What happened between Adhikari and Trinamool?

Adhikari - the mastermind of 2007 Nandigram agitation - holds influence in about 35 assembly constituencies in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram and Birbhum districts. He had been creating rumours for the past few months by holding rallies not under Trinamool flag or its supremo – CM Mamata Banerjee's posters and had skipped cabinet meetings.

After the breakdown of talks, Adhikari resigned from the cabinet post of Transport minister after quitting as Hooghly River Bridge Commission chairman, saying it was 'difficult to work in TMC'. West Bengal goes to polls in April-May 2021, where Mamata Banerjee eyes a third consecutive term. His disgruntlement also has to do with the influence of Mamata Banerjee's nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee and Prashant Kishor's I-PAC which has been roped in by the Trinamool for the Bengal polls. 

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