Subhendu Adhikary to join BJP? Ex-minister tells close aides that if he joins another party, he will resign as MLA too

The resignation of top Trinamool Congress leader Subhendu Adhikary from Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet as state minister has kept politicians in Bengal and beyond busy all day speculating on his next course of action. Will he now join the Bharatiya Janata Party? That has been the most asked question in political circles.

Sources said that though Adhikary has tendered his resignation as minister, he will continue to remain a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for a while now. He is not resigning as Trinamool MLA right now, and is learned to have told his close aides that he wants to remain as a general member of the party apart from being Trinamool Congress MLA from Nandigram.

He has also confided to close aides that he was recently told he should have avoided making some comments publicly, being a senior member of the state cabinet. He therefore felt he should resign as minister. Adhikary clarified to these aides that he is not travelling to New Delhi over the next couple of days (reacting to speculations that he may be travelling to the capital to join the BJP or to speak to senior leaders of the party).

While there are speculations about his joining the BJP, Subhendu Adhikary is learnt to have told some close aides that he has not taken a final decision on the matter, but if he does so, he would first resign as MLA, and he clearly does not want to join another political party while being an MLA of the Trinamool Congress.

Many Trinamool Congress leaders have joined the BJP since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and none of them have resigned as MLAs. Adhikary does not want to be like them, and so his next step may likely be to resign as Trinamool MLA. With Adhikary stating that he would first prefer to resign as MLA before he joins some other political party, questions are now doing the rounds on whether his resignation as MLA is now imminent.

Is Subhendu Adhikary finally parting ways with the Trinamool Congress?