Suvendu Adhikari, who had resigned from the cabinet earlier this week, is not leaving the Trinamul Congress, party MP Saugata Roy said on Monday night.
The statement followed a three-hour meeting in which Suvendu, the Nandigram MLA, sat face to face with MP Abhishek Banerjee, poll consultant Prashant Kishor and Roy.
Sources said Suvendu spoke to chief minister Mamata Banerjee over Roy’s phone and sought her blessings.
The Suvendu camp is expecting an important announcement by December 8, one source said, adding that there are chances of the MLA getting more importance in the party as well as the government.
Roy, the Dum Dum MP and a Trinamul vice-president, said after the meeting: “I cannot divulge all the details. It was a beautiful, fruitful, amicable discussion.”
Roy added: “Suvendu very much remains in the party. There is no question of him joining any other party. He will himself state everything in detail, on record, soon.”
“Suvendu Adhikari is not going to BJP..., He is with TMC and we will work together to make Mamata win again,” Roy tweeted later.
The meeting was also attended by veteran party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Suvendu, who reached Calcutta on Tuesday evening from Contai in his personal vehicle, could not be contacted for his reaction. But sources close to him said that he might brief the media on Wednesday afternoon.
Suvendu’s father Sisir, a Trinamul MP, said that it was good that the problems had been resolved.
On hearing Roy’s statement, a senior Trinamul minister said: “This is indeed a miracle.”
Suvendu had not been attending party programmes or cabinet meetings for the past few months. His cryptic comments at some apolitical programmes, which were endorsed by state BJP leaders, added to the speculation about him joining the saffron camp.
BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh, who had welcomed Suvendu to his party, said: “What do I say? It is their party, their meeting, their business. I don’t know. It is up to them to say. I should not say anything.”