Kolkata: Elated with her former trusted aide Mukul Roy’s ‘ghar wapsi’, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that more people will come out of the BJP and join her party in the days to come.
"Mukul (Roy) is our old member and he has come back. He was not in a good condition in the BJP because the saffron party created pressure on him through agencies, as a result, he was not in mental peace. I was watching that his health condition had also deteriorated because one cannot stay in the BJP. It is a heartless party and no human being can stay there," Mamata Banerjee said.
We welcome Mukul Roy. He will play an important role in the Party: West Bengal CM and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee pic.twitter.com/2oels5BGnD
— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2021
Mamata 'Didi' made these remarks shortly after Mukul Roy, in a big setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, returned to his former party Trinamool Congress along with his son Subhrangshu Roy.
He returned to his former party nearly four years after deserting the Trinamool camp for the saffron brigade.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, and many others were present at the Trinamool Bhavan during the meeting to induct Mukul Roy back into the party fold. Roy and his son were greeted back into the Trinamool by its all-India General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee.
Roy, who had left Trinamool Congress in 2017, said, "I am having a nice feeling for being among familiar people again. This has a kind of homely atmosphere. I am confident that West Bengal will again reach to the top under the leadership of our leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee."
When asked what made him return to the Trinamool, the former all-India General Secretary of the party said, "I shall not work for the BJP again, so I have come back here."
“I could not continue in BJP, I will never do it again,” he said. “I will explain the reasons in a written statement soon. I want to be with the leader who took Bengal forward. In the present political situation, not many people will be able to continue in BJP,” Roy told reporters.
#WATCH मैं बीजेपी छोड़कर TMC में आया हूं, अभी बंगाल में जो स्थिति है, उस स्थिति में कोई बीजेपी में नहीं रहेगा: मुकुल रॉय pic.twitter.com/bdbD5t7kBW
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) June 11, 2021
Denying having any difference with Roy even when he was in the BJP, Mamata Banerjee said, "Even when he was in the BJP, he never said anything against me or the party. He has always been good with our party leaders. Even during the elections, he was quiet about our party."
Hinting that more people from the BJP are likely to join the Trinamool, the Chief Minister said, "Trinamool will welcome everybody who is sober and gentle. But there are some people who betrayed the party before the elections and badmouthed the Trinamool leaders. They are betrayers, and the party will never accept them."
Banerjee also claimed that Roy was threatened in the BJP, and that, in turn, affected his health. "Mukul's return proves that the BJP does not let anyone in peace and puts undue pressure on everyone," the Chief Minister said.
Speculation had been rife about Roy's possible homecoming ever since Banerjee's nephew and TMC MP Abhishek visited his wife at a city hospital.
