West Bengal: Babul Supriyo joins Trinamool, says decision made in ‘last 3 days’

KOLKATA: Babul Supriyo, a former Union minister of state in the Narendra Modi government, joined the Trinamool Congress on Saturday. The move, capping a few days of speculation in political circles and the media in Bengal, ended the two-time Asansol MP’s tumultuous relationship with the BJP since being dropped from the ministry in July.
Babul, whose first response to his former party’s decision to drop him from the ministry was to quit politics altogether, said on Saturday that he did not know “a huge opportunity to serve the people of Bengal” would come his way so soon.“That is what I did with full conviction and whole-heartedly for the past seven years. That is what I want to do now. This decision was made in the last three days,” Babul told reporters immediately after being welcomed into the Trinamool fold by party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at his Camac Street office. Babul, who spoke to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over phone, said he would meet her on Monday.
“I will play by the rulebook. I will play it ethically. I will, as advised by Derek, do whatever needs to be done over the next two days,” Babul said, confirming he would resign from the Lok Sabha. Trinamool leader Arpita Ghosh quit from the Rajya Sabha earlier this week, which coincided with the “three-day” time-frame Babul gave during Saturday’s media interaction. Babul, however, did not say whether he had been promised the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Ghosh.
Babul’s decision is part of a broader trend of BJP leaders joining Trinamool in Bengal after its landslide win in the assembly polls earlier this year.
Veteran politician and Krishnanagar MLA Mukul Roy started the process and was followed by Bagda MLA Biswajit Das, Bishnupur MLA Tanmay Ghosh and Kaliaganj MLA Soumen Roy. Abhishek and Trinamool seniors have claimed that “at least 25 BJP MLAs have queued up to join the Trinamool”.
The former junior union minister’s induction into the Trinamool came days after the BJP named him as a star campaigner for its Bhowanipore by-poll candidate, Priyanka Tibrewal; Babul, however, was conspicuously absent from campaign events.
The Trinamool announced the decision first on its social media handles around 3 p.m. “Former union minister and sitting MP Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool family today in the presence of national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien. We take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to him!” the statement read. The party then put out four photographs of Abhishek inducting him into the party with a Trinamool uttariya (scarf) and later released a 24-second video of Babul, Abhishek and O’Brien. The hashtags Babul Supriyo and BJP MP soon started trending on social media.
“I am a workaholic. I did not want to lose such an opportunity to work for the people of Bengal,” Babul said. “I know I will be subject to intense criticism, there will be social media trends against me. But I know what is trending in my mind now. I want to work for Bengal with the same conviction and passion as I have done for the last seven years,” he added.
“People who wish me well have all told me I should not quit politics. But I was disillusioned. You know the brief of a junior minister. Shashi Tharoor had summed it up very aptly once,” he said, adding that he had consulted his family and friends and they all supported his move. “I have shifted base to Bengal completely. Everything is here now, even my pet dogs and birds. My family is here. So, when an opportunity came to keep working for Bengal, I wanted to make the best of it,” Babul said.
Babul, asked whether he would now campaign for the Bengal CM in the Bhowanipore by-poll, said: “Mamata Banerjee does not need anyone to campaign for her. I will do as directed by the party.” The Asansol MP shares a cordial personal relationship with the Bengal CM. He had famously hopped into her car to take a ride to Raj Bhavan during a 2015 visit to Kolkata by PM Narendra Modi and shared “jhal-muri” with her.
A stung Bengal BJP reacted sharply. Bengal BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said, “Irrespective of our personal relationship with Babul, it is a fact that whatever he does is only for a few days. He worked in a bank for a short while. He was in Mumbai for a short while. He was in the BJP for a short while. Who knows whether he is going to the Trinamool for a short while? The party is bigger than individuals. The BJP will contest and retain Asansol.”