Mukul Roy to be made Trinamool Vice President; Bengal govt to provide him Z security

Reaping reward for returning to Trinamool Congress, ex-BJP Vice President Mukul Roy is set to be made Trinamool Vice-President, report sources on Saturday. Furthermore, Roy will be provided Z security by Bengal govt while his son Subhranshu Roy will be given Y+ security, as per sources. Mukul Roy and his son returned to Trinamool after a 4-year BJP term, triggering a possible return of several TMC turncoats after BJP's Bengal loss.   

Mukul Roy returns to TMC

Rejoining the Trinamool Congress in the presence of CM Mamata Banerjee and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee at the party's Kolkata headquarters on Friday, Mukul Roy said, "It was impossible for me to thrive in Bharatiya Janata Party that's why I have joined TMC today leaving BJP. In the present circumstances, no one will stay in BJP. I am feeling so happy to find myself at my old party. After a long time, I am with the old party members. My son and I will strengthen the party."

Welcoming her oldest aide, Banerjee said, "We welcome Mukul Roy. He will play an important role in the Party. Many will follow. Those who criticized the party, betrayed the party before elections for BJP, for money, we will not consider them."

Mukul Roy miffed

Roy and his son had hinted at their exit when Roy skipped an important organizational meeting of the saffron party and his silence on the post-poll violence set the rumour mills abuzz. Moreover, Roy has been miffed as Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari pipped him to the Leader of the Opposition's post. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself spoke to Roy as several BJP leaders including Sonali Guha, Sarala Murmu and Dipendu Biswas have publicly expressed a desire to rejoin the Mamata Banerjee-led party after the election results.

Roy had resigned from TMC in September 2017 and joined BJP two months later. Subsequently, he was made the national vice-president of the BJP in September 2020. While he won the Krishnanagar North seat in Nadia district, his son Subhrangshu who joined the party in May 2019 was defeated from the Bijpur seat from where he was the incumbent MLA.

Mamata retains Bengal

In May, Mamata Banerjee managed to halt the BJP juggernaut, retaining Bengal with TMC winning 213 seats whereas BJP could win in only 77 constituencies. While BJP won 74 more seats than the previous election, its vote share of 38.13% could not pose a challenge to TMC which garnered a vote share of 47.94%.  Meanwhile, the Congress-Left-ISF alliance failed to dent Trinamool's chances, failing to win a single seat. While Mamata herself lost to ex-aide Suvendu Adhikari at Nandigram, she is set to re-contest from her bastion - Bhowanipore.