Day after Mukul Roy's exit from BJP, Rajib Banerjee meets TMC leader Kunal Ghosh

-

Kolkata: A day after Mukul Roy joined Trinamool Congress leaving BJP, former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee, who had moved to the saffron party only months before the Assembly elections, met TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on Saturday fueling speculations of his return to the old party.

Banerjee, who unsuccessfully fought the elections on BJP ticket from Domjur, went to state TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh residence in the northern part of the city where the two had long meeting which later both described as a "courtesy call".

"Please do not try to look into this as something different. I had come to see one of my relatives who is staying in the same locality of Kunalda's. This is nothing but a courtesy call. There was no political talk between us," Banerjee told reporters while coming out of Ghosh's home.

Ghosh also echoed similar views.

Though the two said that not much should be read into the meeting, speculations are rife that many TMC leaders who had crossed over to the saffron party before Assembly polls are waiting for an opportunity to return to the parent party.

Talking to reporters after Muku Roy's homecoming, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said Friday, "we will consider the case of those who had left the TMC with Mukul for BJP and want to come back."

It signalled that this might not be a lone case of defection from the BJP's Bengal unit.

However, Banerjee had clarified that TMC politicians and workers who left to join the BJP just ahead of the April-May Assembly elections will not be taken back.

When asked about his current position, Rajib Banerjee said, he has some reservations regarding the saffron party's principles.

"I definitely have reservations about the principles of the party (BJP) and I have let my party leaders know about it. But today's meeting with Kunalda has no connection with that," he added.

Incidentally, Banerjee earlier this week had warned members of his new party over a social media post that "people will not take kindly to threats of Presidents rule against a government elected with a huge mandate".

The vehicle in which Banerjee travelled to Ghosh's residence had several stickers and 'uttorio' (shawl) of the TMC.

After quitting the TMC in January, Banerjee had claimed that he was forced to do so as a section of party leaders "humiliated him for airing his grievances over their style of functioning".

Banerjee had served as minister in the TMC government both in 2011 and 2016.

Several former TMC MLAs including Dipendu Biswas and Sonali Guha have in the recent past sent letters regretting their decision to join the BJP and sought to return back to the party's fold.

Guha, who at one time was considered close to Banerjee, made an impassioned plea on camera seeking the chief ministers forgiveness.

Guha, a four-time legislator from Satgachia in South 24 Parganas, had also written in a letter "the way fish cannot stay out of water, I will not be able to live without you, Didi".



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3pL21Sj
Press Trust of India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more