4-time MLA Arjun Singh joins BJP, TMC shrugs off setback

  • | Friday | 15th March, 2019

Now the three Ms stand for money, money and only money,” Singh said.The Trinamool sniggered at Singh’s corruption allegations. The Bhatpara MLA faces several criminal cases, including an attempt-to-murder charge. Another Trinamool-to-BJP turncoat, Mukul Roy, welcomed Singh to the new party and described him as the “Arjun of Mahabharata”, prompting Singh to call Roy “Krishna”. The MLA’s brother-in-law, Sunil Singh, an MLA from Noapara, said he was not joining the BJP. BJP insiders said Singh might be the party’s Barrackpore candidate.Singh gave various reasons for joining the BJP, one of them being Banerjee’s stance vis-a-vis the air strike following the Pulwama terror attack.

Trivedi: Small developments NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Four-time Trinamool Congress MLA and Bhatpara Municipality chairman Arjun Singh defected to the BJP on Thursday, a day after Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee told the media that she did not care if “someone aspiring for something else decides to go”.The North 24 Parganas strongman is the biggest catch for the BJP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and his move may have a bearing on the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency. BJP insiders said Singh might be the party’s Barrackpore candidate.Singh gave various reasons for joining the BJP, one of them being Banerjee’s stance vis-a-vis the air strike following the Pulwama terror attack. “Her asking for details of the strike and the number it killed astonished people. She should have congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead of getting into body politics. I have worked with her for 30 years and saw her becoming Bengal’s CM with the Ma-Mati-Manush slogan. Now the three Ms stand for money, money and only money,” Singh said.The Trinamool sniggered at Singh’s corruption allegations. The Bhatpara MLA faces several criminal cases, including an attempt-to-murder charge. “Singh is now saying that Ma-Mati-Manush has become money-money-money. Singh knows best how money has become honey to him,” Trinamool’s Naihati MLA, Partha Bhowmick, said sarcastically.The defection press conference in New Delhi, too, drew its share of sarcasm. Another Trinamool-to-BJP turncoat, Mukul Roy, welcomed Singh to the new party and described him as the “Arjun of Mahabharata”, prompting Singh to call Roy “Krishna”. Trinamool leaders were prompt to remind Singh how he had labelled Roy a “gaddar (traitor)” when the latter crossed over to the BJP in 2017.Trinamool’s Barrackpore candidate, Dinesh Trivedi, brushed off Thursday’s developments. “I wish him (Singh) all the best,” Trivedi said, adding that these were “small developments” when “Mamata Banerjee has done so much for people and is going national”. “Ma-Mati-Manush has reposed faith in Mamata Banerjee. I have faith in people,” Trivedi said. Singh said in response: “The Trinamool candidate may look better than me but he doesn’t have a rapport with people in the constituency.”Singh is the most prominent among Trinamool-to-BJP defectors in terms of impact and muscle power after Roy. No other defector, including MPs Saumitra Khan and Anupam Hazra, took the risk of dumping the state’s ruling party while holding office (both are MPs). Singh has nursed the Barrackpore belt for the last 20 years, since fighting the LS poll in 1999 (when he lost to CPM’s Tarit Topdar). He was also instrumental in the Trinamool winning the Bhatpara Municipality in 2010 and the Garulia Municipality later.A majority of the councillors in the 35-seat Bhatpara Municipality swear by Singh but a majority of Titagarh Muncipality’s councillors are loyal to the Trinamool. The MLA’s brother-in-law, Sunil Singh, an MLA from Noapara, said he was not joining the BJP. “I am very much with the Trinamool,” he said.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Kolkata Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles