Suvendu Adhikari joins BJP at Amit Shah's Midnapore rally

Former Trinamool heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his Midnapore rally on December 19. The development comes ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal.

West Bengal: Suvendu Adhikari joins BJP in presence of Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah.

Recently, Adhikari had resigned from Trinamool Congress. https://t.co/1r4AGvuyUPpic.twitter.com/Dsan0Kzn0g

— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2020

The veteran leader, who had been “disgruntled” with Trinamool for months, had tendered his resignation as a member of TMC and from all positions held by him in the party just two days ago on December 17.

Why Suvendu Adhikari, who quit TMC and will likely join BJP, matters in West Bengal politics

Adhikari was considered West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee’s right hand. He is credited to having catapulted Mamata to power and was also the face of the Nandigram struggle. The TMC MLA, who represented Nandigram constituency in Purba Medinipur district, had resigned from the state cabinet in November.

TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari resigns as West Bengal Transport Minister

Shortly after, two other TMC leaders -- Colonel (Retired) Diptangshu Choudhary, the Chairman of South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC), and Jitendra Tiwari, the Chairman of the Board of Administrators, Asansol Municipal Corporation -- also announced they are quitting the party.

Silbhadra Dutta, TMC MLA from Barrackpore and Banasri Maity TMC MLA from Uttar Kanthi, have also quit the party.