Since 2014, the BJP has seen many leaders getting disillusioned or upset. The party cannot accommodate all leaders at top posts and therefore we end up seeing many leaders feeling left out. Such leaders go through several phases, starting from mild criticism of policies to outright condemnation of the Modi government.
These upset leaders included Kirti Azad, Shatrughan Sinha, Babul Supriyo and Yashwant Sinha. They have all joined the TMC. In fact, Supriyo and Shatrughan have also been given poll tickets, which shows how TMC is taking in BJP’s liabilities.
Shatrughan to contest from Asansol
Shatrughan Sinha is a former BJP MP who ditched the party to join Congress in 2019. He gave an unpleasant to Congress on Sunday as he decided to ditch the party and contest Asansol parliamentary by-polls on a TMC ticket.
Elections to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat will be held on April 12. The seat fell vacant after Babul Supriyo joined the TMC and left the BJP.
TOI quoted Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Rajesh Rathorre as saying, “Sinha is a stage artist. He will go wherever he will find money and a stage. Sinha is not a man of any ideology. He himself contested as Congress candidate from Patna Sahib seat, while his wife at the same time (in 2019) contested as the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat.”
Supriyo to contest Assembly by-polls from Ballygunge
Meanwhile, ex-BJP leader Babul Supriyo too has been given a by-poll ticket from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency. The by-election is being held in this seat after the death of incumbent MLA Subrata Mukherjee of the TMC.
Yashwant Sinha and Kirti Azad too joined the TMC
Shatrughan Sinha and Babul Supriyo are not the only two ex-BJP leaders in the TMC.
Last year, Kirti Azad too had joined the TMC. Having started his career with THE BJP, Azad had joined the Congress later. But he finally went to the TMC.
After joining TMC, Azad said, “I will work under her leadership till I retire from politics. Will resist all attempts to divide society.”
Similarly, Yashwant Sinha too joined the TMC last year. Later, he was also made the TMC Vice President, within days of joining the party. He was also made a member of the TMC national working committee.
All such leaders leaving the BJP and joining the TMC were big names within the BJP at one time. Some of them are former Union Cabinet Ministers too, while others had come to Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket multiple times. Now that they have joined opposition ranks, there is no need to worry about them because they are longer dissidents within the party.