A day after Salt Lake Mayor Sabyasachi Dutta stepped down from his position, Trinamool Congress insiders have begun to speculate whether two former Mayors – the other being former Kolkata Mayor Sovon Chatterjee – joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is just a matter of time.
Chatterjee was recently in Delhi and is said to have discussed the details regarding his joining the BJP, with senior leaders of the party. There have also been speculations on Dutta joining the BJP – especially since he has openly met BJP leader Mukul Roy and made a number of statements against his party over the past few months.
But Sovon Chatterjee and Sabyasachi Dutta continue to be with the Trinamool Congress officially. Both are elected members of the Legislative Assembly. Dutta is yet to resign from the post of councillor and MLA of Newtown-Rajarhat Assembly constituency. Even Chatterjee continues to be a councillor and MLA from Behala East assembly constituency.
Chatterjee was Kolkata Mayor from 2010 to November 2018. He resigned from the post after a bitter row with the party chief Mamata Banerjee. Since 2018, Chatterjee has distanced himself from the Trinamool Congress and there have been talks that he is likely to join the BJP. He has been one of Mamata Banerjee’s closest aides and has been a very important leader in the party.
During the Trinamool Congress’ best phase so far, Mukul Roy and Sovon Chatterjee were considered the most valuable – 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.
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.
Dutta, who resigned as Salt Lake Mayor on Thursday, has not held such an important position in the party, but he has successfully embarrassed the Trinamool Congress over the past few months. He moved court against the party decision to move a no-trust motion against him and even got a verdict in his favour. It was only after getting a favourable verdict that he decided to step down – which has been a rather smart move, say senior leaders.
Moving a petition on behalf of Dutta, senior advocate and former Mayor of Kolkata, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya had said that Dutta had taken some steps against people engaged in unauthorised construction and filling wetlands in the area and hence some people close to the top leadership had turned out against him.
However, Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee said that as long as he was the Mayor he never took steps against corruption. “The party chose him as the Mayor, and no one stopped him from discharging his duties,” he said. Chatterjee also heads the party’s disciplinary committee.
Whether the party takes action against Dutta, whether he joins the BJP before that, and whether Dutta and Sovon Chatterjee join the BJP together, are matters of intense speculation within the Trinamool Congress over the past few days, something that should be clear soon.
