Two weeks after Suvendhu Adhikari, former Cabinet minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, defected to the BJP along with several TMC MLAs and one of its MPs, his brother Soumendu also looks set to jump ship – allegedly along with 5,000 Trinamool party workers.
Speaking at a public meeting at Purba Medinipur on Friday, 1 January, the Foundation Day of his former party, Suvendu Adhikari claimed that his brother would join the BJP along with some councillors and several thousand grassroots workers, news agency PTI reported.
“My younger brother Soumendu will join the BJP in Contai today. He will be accompanied by several councillors and 5,000 TMC grassroot workers. The TMC will steadily disintegrate.”Suvendu Adhikari, according to PTI
On Thursday, 31 December, Soumendu had hinted at the move, saying that the “lotus will bloom in every household” following Suvendu’s own statement that the lotus would bloom in his family, PTI had reported. Their father Sisir Adhikari and brother Dibyendu are MPs from the TMC.
The West Bengal Assembly elections are scheduled for April-May 2021.
Soumendu Adhikari had held the post of the chairman of Contai Municipality, and had taken over as head of the administrators over the last year as the COVID-19 pandemic delayed fresh municipal elections. He was removed from the post on 30 December, after his brother’s defection, and has challenged this decision in the Calcutta High Court.
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