Congress leaders Kirti Azad and Ashok Tanwar on Tuesday joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party in New Delhi. Ashok Tanwar, who quit the Congress in October 2019 and launched his own party, and former JD(U) general secretary Pavan Varma will also join the TMC. A member of the 1983 cricket World Cup-winning squad, Azad was suspended from the BJP for openly targeting the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities and corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association in December 2015.
He joined the Congress in 2018. Tanwar had claimed the Congress was "going through an existential crisis, because serious internal contradictions" and, in February, had launched his own party - Apna Bharat Morcha. Post the Trinamool's huge victory in the Bengal elections, Mamata Banerjee has emerged as the guiding force for the opposition to unite against the BJP. She has also emerged as one of the more likely prime ministerial candidates, although she has been quick to refuse such ambitions and play this down. Azad, who switched from the BJP to the Congress in 2019, is reported to be upset with the Congress leadership, especially Rahul Gandhi. According to sources, Azad believes that the only leader who can give sleepless nights to the Narendra Modi-led BJP is Banerjee, who is obviously the tiger in the first reference.