Kolkata: In a jolt to the saffron camp in West Bengal, BJP MP Arjun Singh rejoined Sunday the Trinamool Congress (TMC), ending weeks of speculation over his possible switchover to the ruling party. Atjun Singh was welcomed into the party by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at his office in south Kolkata.
“Warmly welcoming former Vice-President of @BJP4Bengal and MP from Barrackpore, Shri @ArjunsinghWB into the All India Trinamool Congress family. He joins us today in the presence of our National General Secretary Shri @abhishekaitc (sic),” the TMC said on its official Twitter handle.
Singh, one of the prominent Hindi-speaking leaders of the TMC, had joined the saffron camp just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. He went on to win from the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat defeating TMC heavyweight Dinesh Trivedi.
In recent times Singh has been critical at the treatment meted out to the jute industry in West Bengal. After rejoining the TMC, the MP said that his aim is to revive the jute industry again. “Since the Centre is not paying heed to my demand, I decided to quit the BJP and return to TMC. I had left in 2019 due to some misunderstanding,” Singh stated.
Singh also lambasted the BJP leaders running the party in West Bengal. “They have to understand that politics can’t just be done by tweeting from the comfort of their AC rooms. To be a successful politician one has to mingle with the masses,” Singh said.
“The BJP leaders in West Bengal have no understanding of the masses, they do not feel the pulse of the public. It is the main reason why the party is doing so badly in the state… there is no organised way of functioning,” Singh added.