Post BJP jump, Dinesh Trivedi raises TMC netas not backing Pranab Mukherjee as President

After his formal induction into Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), former Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister-led Trinamool Congress. Pointing towards TMC's slogan for upcoming West Bengal elections, "Benglar mey (Bengal's daughter)", Dinesh Trivedi said that those who preach this slogan had once refused to vote for Pranab Mukherjee (whom he referred to as 'Bengal's son') as President of India in 2012. 

Dinesh Trivedi attacks TMC

Taking to Twitter, the former TMC leader said that it was he along with Suvendu Adhikari and 12 other leaders, who had openly supported Pranab Mukherjee, and it was this support by them that compelled TMC to reluctantly change its mind. He said, "Just go through the media reports of those days to find out who has more conviction for Bengal."

Dinesh Trivedi joins BJP

Dinesh Trivedi, who had resigned from his Rajya Sabha seat in February, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of the party's national president JP Nadda. Calling it the "golden moment I had been waiting for," he had said, "Bengal has huge potential but still people are going out to work in other cities. The state is full of corruption and Gunda raj. Today, the people of Bengal are happy that a parivartan (change) is going to take place under BJP."

Welcoming the former Bengal minister into the party, Nadda has said, "Dinesh Trivedi was the right person in the wrong party, now he is in the right party."

Trivedi, a three-time Rajya Sabha MP and former railway minister, had announced his resignation in the house during a debate on the Union Budget, saying he cannot remain silent on the political violence taking place in the election-bound state. 

West Bengal elections

The West Bengal Assembly with 294 seats will also go to the polls from May 2, 2021. CM Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress holds 222 seats at present. However, BJP has made major inroads in the state in the Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats out of 42 and establishing itself as the major opposition force in the state. The BJP is using its booth-level strategy and has regularly dispatched its top leaders including Amit Shah and JP Nadda in the state for winning the upcoming elections, with the Prime Minister also addressing mega-rallies there in recent weeks. The party has also been inducting a number of major TMC leaders on a regular basis and plans to hold at least 1500 rallies and assorted road-shows in total.