Rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Suvendu Adhikari tendered his resignation from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. Adhikari, the MLA of Nandigram constituency in the Purba Medinipur district, had resigned from the state cabinet in November. He has been maintaining distance with the party leadership for quite some time. Adhikari is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's proposed visit to Bengal this week, sources close to him said.
Insiders said Adhikari may also travel to Delhi seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before December 19. Sources said that Adhikari may fly to the national capital on December 17.
"I have also heard that Suvendu Adhikari may join the BJP. He is welcome in the party if he wishes to join us. We will give him opportunities to work for the people in Bengal," BJP state unit president Dilip Ghosh said.
It was also learnt from sources that BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya spoke to Adhikari on Tuesday for about four minutes wishing him on his birthday.
The BJP leader explained that if Subhendu Adhikari joined BJP, it will have a huge impact mostly in South Bengal, old Midnapore, West Midnapore, and many other areas like Murshidabad. "In 2019, the people of North Bengal had overthrown the Trinamool Congress. The party has a bit of grip in South Bengal. But if Shubhendu Adhikari joins BJP, they’ll lose that too," BJP MP Nisith Pramanik told news agency ANI.
