Reacting to former union minister Babul Supriyo joining Trinamool Congress, West Bengal’s leader of opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari claimed that his exit was not a loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP leader, however, stated that the Asansol MP Babul Supriyo should have told the party before leaving.
“Babul Supriyo should have told BJP before leaving the party. His exit is not a loss for BJP. He is not a mass leader and not a good political organiser. However, personally, he is my good friend,” West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
“He could have resigned from Lok Sabha, informed Dilip Ghosh and JP Nadda and then left. I have left a party and joined a party. There is a process. He could have followed it,” added Adhikari.
“He had the issue of status and ministership. I had been a cabinet minister in the state government and held three big positions. But I left everything and joined BJP on ethical and ideological ground. Supriyo had been only a Minister of State. He was a minister for seven years. Not a single booth president will go after him. He has no political impact,” he added.
Former Union Minister and ex-BJP MP Babul Supriyo on Saturday formally joined TMC. He had quit the BJP following the recent Union Cabinet reshuffle.
Sitting MP Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool family in the presence of National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.
Speaking to ANI, Mr Supriyo said, “I accepted the opportunity given to me by Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and Abhishek. I left politics wholeheartedly and I am accepting the opportunity wholeheartedly. I met Abhishek Banerjee. The work to be done for Bengal was presented before me. I am excited. I want to work under the leadership of Didi. I will meet Didi on Monday.”
Earlier, Mr Supriyo had announced he was leaving politics and will also resign as an MP. He had stated that he would not join any political party and neither have the parties including the Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) or Congress called him.
Babul Supriyo had resigned in August as minister of state for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. In a Facebook post, he said that there was a difference of opinion between him and the state BJP leaders and that the difference of opinion among senior leaders was “harming the party”.
Notably, Mr Supriyo’s security cover has been changed to Y from the Z category this morning. He has been given security by the central government. Mr Supriyo has a security cover of the Central Reserve Police Force.