KOLKATA: Less than a month after he was made a special invitee to the BJP national executive, former Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee on Sunday returned to Trinamool Congress with “repentance” on his lips.
“I was wrong. We were wrong,” he said in Agartala, adding, “I failed to appreciate chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s worth. She isn’t only Bengal’s mother, but the country’s too. BJP thrives only on votes and power.”
Rajib was handed over the TMC flag by party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at Sunday’s Tripura rally. “I have long ties with Tripura, my relatives and friends stay here. And it is from them I learnt how hollow these double-engine claims are. Tripura has a double engine, yet they do not have a single social scheme like single-engine Bengal. I was wrong. When I understood that, it was too late,” he said.
Rajib had met Abhishek on August 7, over two months after his poll drubbing in Howrah’s Domjur where he lost by over 33,000 votes. In TMC, he had won the same seat twice, in 2011 and 2016. “I didn’t agree with the personal attacks, had spoken out against it. Given our culture and mentality, I also couldn’t agree to this politics of religion, race, division and hatred,” he said. “I demanded that the fuel price hike be rolled back. I also asked that the ailing Dunlop be taken over (by the Centre).”
TMC workers who fought a vitriolic campaign against Rajib in the polls were openly opposed to his ghar-wapsi. For BJP, it was his repeated criticism on social media of the party’s “inability to accept people’s mandate” and “repeated personal attacks on CM Mamata Banerjee”. His induction as a special invitee to the BJP national executive gave an indication that he had finally buried the hatchet. But he didn’t.
The ‘homecoming’ rumblings were immediate. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, who led the charge against Rajib in Domjur, said: “The leadership had said anyone who had hurt party workers will not find a place again. I feel hurt.”
Rajib said: “Kalyanda is a respected guardian. He has spoken about his personal feelings. The party’s highest leadership has decided to take me back.” TMC in a statement said they “wholeheartedly welcomed” Rajib back.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh disagreed. “That he will return was known to all. They had a non-entry board till now, he went the day they removed it.” BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar said: “He had come to BJP from another party, and he left.”
