A day before, the BJP was exulting that senior Congress leader Jitin Prasad has joined the party. The very next day, it lost its vice-president Mukul Roy. Considered a master strategist, Mukul Roy was instrumental in BJP's stunning performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He and his son Shubhrangshu have joined the Trinamool Congress on Friday.
This is a big setback for the BJP in West Bengal as it is being said that more former TMC leaders will follow him into the TMC. Mukul Roy was unhappy in the BJP as the party did not make him a minister at the Centre. Sources say Modi was willing to make him the national vice-president, but not a minister. The reason? Corruption charges against Mukul Roy. Modi clearly did not want his cabinet to have tainted ministers.
But, more problematically for the BJP, at least 30 MLAs, who have won recently, might join the TMC. All these were former TMC leaders. Already there is a tussle between the loyal, RSS-based BJP leaders and the new entrants from the TMC and the Congress Party. There is discontent among the old-timers over the appointment of Suvendu Adhikari as the leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly.
This is a big setback for the BJP in West Bengal as it is being said that more former TMC leaders will follow him into the TMC. Mukul Roy was unhappy in the BJP as the party did not make him a minister at the Centre. Sources say Modi was willing to make him the national vice-president, but not a minister. The reason? Corruption charges against Mukul Roy. Modi clearly did not want his cabinet to have tainted ministers.
But, more problematically for the BJP, at least 30 MLAs, who have won recently, might join the TMC. All these were former TMC leaders. Already there is a tussle between the loyal, RSS-based BJP leaders and the new entrants from the TMC and the Congress Party. There is discontent among the old-timers over the appointment of Suvendu Adhikari as the leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly.