KOLKATA: TMC leader Sovan Chatterjee, who has taken a sabbatical from active politics, is keeping the party and BJP guessing about his future move as he has met leaders of both parties recently.
The former city mayor had met TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday raising eyebrows in the political circles as he had maintained a safe distance from TMC leaders for the past eight months.
He had met BJP leaders last week fuelling speculations that he might switch over to saffron camp.
Chatterjee had been asked to step down both as minister of the state government and city mayor by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in November last year following troubles in his personal life "I may have resigned as minister and mayor but I am still a member of TMC and an MLA.
Whenever I take any decision you all will get to know," Chatterjee told newsmen when asked.
"We will wait and watch for his next step. Let's see what happens," said a senior BJP leader when asked whether Chatterjee would switch over to the party ahead of next year's Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) polls.
Asked about the meeting, Partha Chatterjee told reporters on Thursday that Chatterjee is an "old friend and comrade of various political movements".
"Sovan is still a member of TMC. I am confident that he will be back in active politics in days to come," Partha Chatterjee said.
He alleged that BJP has been trying to poach on elected representatives of TMC by either intimidating them or luring them with money.
"BJP does have the guts to defeat us (TMC) in the elections. So they have taken resort to intimidation of TMC MLAs and other representatives and are forcing them to join BJP. But those leaders who had switched over to BJP are already getting in touch with us and want to rejoin as they are completely disillusioned with that party," Partha Chatterjee said.
Six TMC MLAs, besides one each of Congress and CPI(M) have switched over to BJP since the results of Lok Sabha polls were announced.
The BJP has made deep inroads in Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls by winning 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, just four less than TMC.