Alipurduar district BJP president Ganga Prasad Sharma said on Sunday that he would join the Trinamul Congress without “any condition”, but he would expect “minimum respect” in the new party.
Sharma, who was instrumental in expanding the BJP’s base in the district, will be the first major leader from the saffron camp to change sides in north Bengal after the Assembly polls. He will join the ruling party at Trinamul Bhavan in Calcutta.
The BJP had performed well in north Bengal in the elections winning 30 of the 54 Assembly seats.
Sharma had on Saturday exited a WhatsApp group of the BJP, fuelling speculation all through the day.
On Sunday, he confirmed that he would join Trinamul on Monday in the presence of party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Alipurduar district president Mridul Goswami.
“I had to work hard to consolidate the party’s base in the district. I can no longer stay in a party where the district president is not given importance. I have left the BJP,” said Sharma.
Sharma said he would join Trinamul without “any condition”. “I am joining Trinamul without any condition. I have told Abhishek babu to show me minimum respect in the party and provide me with an opportunity to work for the people. I am feeling free now.”
Under Sharma’s leadership, the BJP had won the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and all five Assembly segments in the district this year. Alipurduar is the only district where the BJP won all Assembly seats in the recent polls.
Sharma indicated that he was unhappy that the BJP had given credit to Alipurduar MP John Barla for the recent victory.
“I can’t stay in a party where the elected representative is given importance over the party president,” Sharma said without taking Barla’s name.
Sharma was probably hinting at a statement issued by central BJP leader Arvind Menon in Calcutta about a fortnight ago. He had credited Barla for the BJP’s success in Alipurduar.
Apart from Menon’s statement, Sharma was disgruntled with the way the BJP’s higher leadership was handling the party in Alipurduar.
Barla could not be immediately contacted.
Madarihat-Birpara BJP MLA Manoj Tigga said: “This is an unfortunate development even though I do not know why Ganga da took such a decision.”
On Saturday Tapan Sinha, a close aide to Mukul Roy, left the BJP and joined Trinamul.
