It was not unexpected, and had been brewing for many months now. Trinamool Congress’ top leader – who had been Kolkata Mayor, held several portfolios as minister in the Mamata Banerjee government – Sovon Chatterjee is expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) later today. His friend Baishakhi Banerjee is accompanying him, and there are talks that she too might join the BJP along with him.
Chatterjee is already learnt to have reached the BJP office in New Delhi. He had been to Delhi several times over the past few months and met senior BJP leaders, but this had been kept a strictly guarded secret.
Sovon Chatterjee has been with the Trinamool Congress since its birth and was one of Mamata Banerjee’s closest aides. He is an elected Trinamool Congress councillor and lawmaker from Behala East assembly constituency. He was Kolkata Mayor from 2010 to November 2018.
But Chatterjee resigned from the post of Mayor after a bitter row with party chief Mamata Banerjee. Since 2018, he has distanced himself from the Trinamool Congress and there have been talks that he is likely to join the BJP.
During the Trinamool Congress’ best phase so far, Mukul Roy and Sovon Chatterjee were considered the most valuable in the party – they both know the state and its politics well, can strategise and win elections. Roy has long joined the BJP. And now, Chatterjee seems to be following his footsteps. There are talks and allegations that Chatterjee may have distanced himself from the Trinamool Congress as he was under probe for his alleged involvement in the Narada scam.
After the Trinamool Congress’ poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, current Mayor Firhad Hakim had called Sovon Chatterjee asking him to stand by the party as things were tough. However, Chatterjee hasn’t apparently returned the warmth. A few weeks back, another top leader Partha Chatterjee met him and tried to bring him back to party work. But it didn’t seem to have worked either.
Baishakhi Banerjee, once close to the Trinamool Congress has been alleging harassment from a section of teachers from the college where she teaches. She has met education minister Partha Chatterjee and offered to resign. There have been several attempts from the Trinamool Congress to bring Sovon Chatterjee and Baishakhi Banerjee together into the Trinamool Congress’ activities and work, but they have distanced themselves.
