Hours after Congress leader Kirti Azad and Ashok Tanwar, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, decided to join Trinamool Congress (TMC), Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury called it “an example of opportunistic politics”.
Attacking the turncoats, Chowdhury said that these people thought they will not earn profit in the Congress and claimed that the TMC has brought a lot of money by looting West Bengal and is utilizing it by doing political trade in New Delhi.
These developments come amid West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Delhi, who is slated to be in the national capital till November 25.
Tanwar, an MP from Sirsa during 2009-2014 and also the president of the party’s Haryana unit, had resigned from Congress in 2019 ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls.
Congress going through an existential crisis: Tanwar to Sonia in 2019
In his letter to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi he said that the INC is going through an existential crisis, not because of its political opponents, but because of serious internal contradictions.
In February this year, he launched a new political party ‘Apna Bharat Morcha’ and later extended his support to Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and campaigned against Congress in elections.
Kirti Azad, a member of the 1983 cricket World Cup-winning team, was suspended from the BJP for openly targeting Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities and corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association in December 2015.
He joined Congress in 2018.
A personality like Mamata Banerjee needed in the country: Azad
After joining the TMC, Azad said that under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, he will work for the development of the nation.
“Today, a personality like her is needed in the country who can show the country the right direction,” he added.
The trend of Congress leaders jumping ship to the TMC has increased after Mamata Banerjee’s party registered a landslide victory in the West Bengal assembly elections.
Sushmita Dev joined the TMC in August while Luizinho Faleiro, former Chief Minister of Goa, joined jumped ship in September.
In October, Rajesh Pati Tripathi and his son Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, both formerly in the Congress, joined the TMC
A former MLC, Rajesh Pati Tripathi is the grandson of former Uttar Pradesh CM Kamalapati Tripathi while his son Lalitesh is a former MLA.