Another BJP Lawmaker in Bengal Joins Trinamool

Kolkata: Nearly a month after resigning from the BJP, Raiganj MLA Krishna Kalyani on Wednesday joined West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress.

Kalyani, who had fallen out with BJP MP Debasree Chaudhuri, took the party flag from party veteran and state General Secretary Partha Chatterjee.

Following heavyweights like Mukul Roy, former Union Minister Babul Supriyo, and Sabyasachi Dutta into the Trinamool, he is the fifth MLA to switch to the ruling party.

Besides Roy who won from Krishnanagar in Nadia district, the other MLAs who joined Trinamool are Soumen Roy from Kailaganj in north Bengal, Tanmay Ghosh from Bishnupur in Bankura, and Biswajit Das from Bagda constituency in North 24 Parganas.

After joining Trinamool, Kalyani, a very influential leader of North Dinajpur, said: “There is no place for work in the BJP. There is only conspiracy and back-stabbing. Nothing good can happen in this situation and so it is better to stay away from the party.”

He had resigned from the BJP on October 1, this year alleging that Chaudhuri was conspiring against him. Terming her as a traitor, he had said: “I have come here to give service to the people. I cannot work with people who are more interested in other things and so I resigned.

“More specifically I resigned because of Debasree Chaudhuri. She has back-stabbed me. I cannot work with people like her.”

Kalyani, who joined the BJP from Trinamool in January this year, said: “I made a mistake by joining BJP and I have rectified it within six months. I am inspired by the development and social work done by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and I want to be a part of that.”