Week after sharing dais with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, MLA Arindam Bhattacharya in BJP

SHANTIPUR: Trinamool Congress’ Shantipur MLA Arindam Bhattacharya on Wednesday joined BJP in Delhi in the presence of the party’s Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Bhattacharya had shared the dais with chief minister Mamata Banerjee last week when she was addressing a rally in Nadia. The 40-year-old politician, a former president of Bengal Youth Congress, is a corporate lawyer by profession.After winning on a Congress ticket, Bhattacharya had defected to Trinamool.
“When a youth leader comes to politics, he has some vision and dreams. I had dreams about my state and constituency and tried to give the party suggestions, but nothing changed. The youth does not have a future in the state as there is no industrialisation. In fact, I was not allowed do anything in the state,” Bhattacharya said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters.
Vijayvargiya said: “He decided to work for the state and has faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
According to sources, Bhattacharya had developed a strained relationship with Shantipur Municipality chairman Ajay Dey. A few days back, he convened a press meet and removed a photograph of the CM from the wall.
Trinamool initiated a discussion with Bhattacharya, but he left the party. Correctional home minister Ujjal Biswas, a Trinamool leader from Nadia, said: “It is of no significance to Trinamool. People of Ranaghat Lok Sabha seat do not like sitting BJP MP (Jagannath Sarkar). We will take out a rally of 10,000 youths and that will show the true strength.”
Meanwhile, two more South 24 Parganas lawmakers from Trinamool are in touch with BJP, and are likely to join the saffron party in the next couple of days. According to Bengal BJP sources, the two are in talks with the party’s national leaders.