Babul Supriyo
Former Union Minister Babul Supriyo joins TMC
Kolkata/IBNS: Leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) egg-faced, former Union Minister and the saffron party's star campaigner for the upcoming Bhabanipur byelection, Babul Supriyo, joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) here Saturday.
Supriyo, a Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal's Asansol, joined the TMC in presence of party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien.
Today, in the presence of National General Secretary @abhishekaitc and RS MP @derekobrienmp, former Union Minister and sitting MP @SuPriyoBabul joined the Trinamool family.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) September 18, 2021
We take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to him! pic.twitter.com/6OEeEz5OGj
Supriyo, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2021 assembly elections in Mar-Apr as a BJP candidate from Tollygunge, was stripped off his ministry in the last cabinet reshuffle of the Modi government at the Centre.
On the same day when he lost his junior ministry, the two-term MP had announced quitting politics though he had stated he would not join any other party.
Supriyo, after the TMC's massive victory in West Bengal polls in May, had tweeted that he would not thank Mamata Banerjee for the win and even termed the massive mandate for the CM as a historic mistake of the people of Bengal.
Though the BJP had included Supriyo's name in the star campaigner's list for the Bhabanipur bypoll where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting herself, the former arch-rival of the TMC had refused to hit the streets for saffron party candidate Priyanka Tibrewal.
In a press conference last week, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, "Of course he (Babul Supriyo) is in active politics. How can someone be an MP without being in politics?"
Supriyo, a singer-turned politician, won from Asansol in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha assembly elections.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta in a tweet said that he was saddened by Supriyo's exit and added that the Asansol MP was an "asset" to the party.
I am sad @SuPriyoBabul has left BJP to ‘re-enter’ politics. I can’t speak about the future, but he was an asset to BJP & I would personally like to thank him for his services. For those of us for whom BJP is a lifelong commitment, the fight goes on—even in adverse circumstances.
— Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) September 18, 2021
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