Wasn’t possible to carry on at saffron party, says Mukul Roy after rejoining TMC
KOLKATA: Sitting beside Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday, Mukul Roy made it clear that he could not continue in BJP and that is why he decided to return to his old party. The BJP’s national vice-president, who ended his three-year and nine-month stint in the saffron camp, said he would issue a statement on what made him quit.
“It was not possible to continue in the BJP. I have returned to my old place. I will let everything be known in a written statement, elaborating why I took this decision,” said Roy. Welcoming Roy back into the fold, Mamata said: “He was unhappy in BJP. Also, he was not physically well.’’
BJP functionaries in Bengal, who had followed Roy into the saffron party, said he was sidelined and left as nothing more than an MLA in Bengal’s political landscape. “Differences between Roy and (BJP’s state president) Dilip Ghosh became prominent on several occasions. He played a crucial role in the party’s impressive performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when we won 18 of 42 seats.
But he was not given any organisational responsibility in Bengal. The national vice-president post was an ornamental designation. He had no stake in the party’s electoral strategy before the Assembly elections,’’ said a BJP leader close to Roy.
Roy’s unhappiness became clear after the Assembly election results. He skipped two meetings convened by Ghosh. Asked about that, Roy had said he was not informed about those meetings. Known for his skill in managing elections, Mamata’s one-trusted aide was not optimally used by BJP in the high-octane polls.
“Instead, they fielded him in a constituency (Krishnagar North) which is far away from his hometown and not a place of his influence. It was basically aimed at confining him to the constituency from where he contested and won,” said the BJP leader.