Congress’s rebel MLA Manasa Bhuiyan, 46, has left Congress and joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday along with former Congress MLA Md Sohrab.
However, The MLA has not cleared whether he would resign as a MLA, which will cost him his seat in the House as well as the Chairman’s post of an important public account committee.
Bhuiyan said, “Mamata Banerjee has two entities- she is a political leader and and a chief minister. The party leadership will decide on it.”
“Politics isn’t a stagnant pond, it’s a flowing river,” said Bhuiyan on his resignation from the Congress.
TMC General Secretary Partha Chatterjee welcomed an ‘old colleague’ in the party fold as Manas along with Sorab met Mamata Banerjee after the induction.
Sohrab said, “I have been with the Congress for 58 years. We had agreed to a seat adjustment and not an electoral alliance. I was surprised to see that the CPM had put a candidate against me from Jangipur. Now they ask me to take part in CPM rallies. My conscience doesn't permit it.”
Answering the question whether he informed Rahul Gandhi about his decision, Bhuiyan said that his talks with Congress high command has been blocked by the ‘Kala pahar’ (great barrier) C P Joshi, who is an AICC General Secretary and ‘Jogai-Madhai’ (Adhir Chowdhury and Abdul Mannan). He added that he feels TMC is a real Congress and as if he was feeling back home. He said, “Bidhan Bhavan (the state Congress headquarters) is now inhabited by ghosts.”
It’s interesting that In March 2009, Bhiyan, the then Congress Legislative party leader, had lodged a complaint against senior MLAs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Somen Mitra for defecting to TMC.
Arunava Ghosh, Congress leader, said, “Any member of a political party who after winning the election on that party’s symbol publicly speak out against the party automatically becomes liable for defection. Congress can even move to the High Court.”
Also Read: Congress’s CM, 43 MLAs Joins People’s Party of Arunachal Pradesh
By Prajakt K.
