Former Union minister of state and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo quit the BJP on Saturday and hitched on to the Trinamul wagon, the announcement coming via Trinamul’s official Twitter handle, taking many by surprise.

“Today, in the presence of national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, former union minister and sitting MP Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool family. We take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to him,” tweeted Trinamul sharing Babul’s pictures with Abhishek and O’ Brien.

Though Babul has not resigned from his Lok Sabha seat yet, on Saturday he said will do so now. This creates the possibility of Babul being sent to the Rajya Sabha as Arpita Ghosh's replacement by the Trinamul.

Addressing a press conference after joining the TMC, Babul said, "If an opportunity comes your way, you should decide, and I have decided to take this."

On whether he will quit as MP after joining the TMC, the leader said he will follow the rulebook. He added that he will work towards the development of Bengal.

"When I had said two months back that I want to quit politics, I was serious about it. After getting this new opportunity, however, I decided to change my mind.

"I am very excited about joining the TMC. I will work for the development of Bengal," he stated.

Babul also said that he will be meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.

"I am grateful to Abhishek Banerjee, (TMC national general secretary) and Mamata Banerjee for giving me an opportunity to work for the state.

"I will follow the rulebook; there is no point in holding on to the Asansol seat when I have joined the TMC," he added.

Since he was dropped from the Union ministry in the last reshuffle, a sulking Babul had announced that he had quit active politics, though he continued to remain a Lok Sabha MP.

Babul, one of the earliest celebrities from Bengal to join the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014, had won the Asansol Lok Sabha seat in his maiden election and went on to retain it five years later.

Though he shared a warm rapport with Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose affection for people from the culture clan is well known, Babul had turned into a fierce critic of hers.

Though the chasm had widened between Babul and the Bengal BJP since his defeat from the Tollygunge Lok Sabha seat in this Assembly election, he was retained as one of the star campaigners for the party in the upcoming Bhowanipore by-elections.

In fact, the BJP nominee for the Bhowanipore by-election lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal is known for her proximity to Babul. She had represented him in several legal cases and joined the party holding his hands.

“Many congratulations Priyanka Tibrewal (of the) BJP. She is a spirited girl & fought all my Legal Battles (Successfully) in Politics since 2014 with a lot of grit, LOGIC and confidence. That was a reason why I asked her to join the Party. Extremely happy for her,” Babul had tweeted eight days ago when Tibrewal’s nomination was announced.

A section of the BJP in Bengal is now wondering why the leadership chose to back a candidate who is close to a defector.

“Well, there could be sabotage during the elections. His joining the Trinamul has come at a very key moment,” said a BJP source.

Babul’s entry into politics came holding the hands of the entrepreneur-television Yoga teacher Ramdev, who is close to the BJP. According to sources, in recent times Ramdev’s ties with the BJP have turned frosty though the actual reason is a matter of conjecture. Whether Babul’s exit is also linked to the dip in Ramdev’s stocks in the BJP is not known.

In the seven years between 2014 and 2021, Babul had served as junior minister in urban development, housing, urban poverty alleviation, heavy industries, public enterprises, environment and forest among others.

His criticism of the Trinamul had continued even after his loss in the Assembly polls.

“Fake IAS, fake police officer, and now a fake CID officer… All of them have one thing in common; photographic evidence of their closeness with various TMC leaders,” Babul had tweeted on July 7.

Till 4pm, Babul had not deleted the anti-Trinamul tweets.

From Saturday he too would stand to be questioned over proximity with shady characters to Bengal’s ruling party.

Before Suvendu Adhikary appeared on the BJP horizon, Babul Supriyo had been Trinamul’s foremost target. Trinamul MP Mohua Moitra had filed a case of “outrage of modesty” against Supriyo in 2017 during a TV debate that was later quashed by the Calcutta High Court. In January this year, before the polls were announced, Abhishek had sent a legal notice to Babul seeking him to apologise or face legal action over alleged derogatory comments.

During the campaign of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, a case was filed against Babul under the Arms Act by a local Trinamul leader. He was also accused of entering a temple in a drunken state by the Trinamul.

While he would keep locking horns with the Trinamul, his relationship with the BJP leaders in Bengal was an uneasy one.

In his constituency Asansol, Babul depended on his band of handpicked youths called Team Babul for carrying out programmes and campaigns rather than the local BJP unit. He was considered an outsider and not a typical BJP leader which often led to public differences with the state unit president Dilip Ghosh.