Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress are reaching out supporters to other political parties ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
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Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, while giving a call to party supporters to join the rally on November 29 in Kolkata which is likely to be addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urged that all those who have been deprived to join the gathering. “All those who have been deprived should join the rally. This is a fight for justice,” Mr. Adhikari said in a video message on Saturday.
This is not the first time that the BJP leader has called supporters of other political parties to rally with the BJP in West Bengal. Raising questions about the INDIA alliance where Left parties and Trinamool Congress have come together, the Nandigram MLA has asked Left supporters to join the BJP in the State if they are serious in defeating the Trinamool Congress government.
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A few days ago, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had urged party leaders to allow political activists from other parties to join her party. “Let other party leaders join the party, provided they are good people,” Ms. Banerjee said on November 23.
On Saturday, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also referred to the Chief Minister’s remarks and said that party leadership will decide on who from the BJP will be allowed to join the party. Mr. Ghosh said that several leaders of the BJP are keen to join Trinamool Congress.
While the BJP leaders are vying for the support of Left cadres, more than half a dozen MLAs of BJP have joined Trinamool Congress. Two BJP MPs who were elected in 2019 Lok Sabha polls – Arjun Singh from Barrackpore and Babul Supriyo from Asansol have defected to the Trinamool Congress.