Kolkata, March 12 Denied a ticket for the forthcoming parliamentary elections by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, Arjun Singh, on Tuesday removed the pictures of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the party’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee from his office.
After quitting the Trinamool before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Singh had successfully contested the polls from Barrackpore on a BJP ticket. However, in 2022, he made a return to the state's ruling party.
Now, making his intention to return to the BJP clear, Singh has replaced the pictures of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi carrying the latter's signature.
Singh claimed the picture was gifted to him by the Prime Minister himself.
Singh also said that by not nominating him from Barrackpore, the Trinamool leadership has made it clear that he is not wanted in the party anymore.
“I did not have any special demand (from the party). I unnecessarily wasted 18 months by joining the Trinamool again,” Singh said.
Notably, Singh's son Pawan Singh is a BJP legislator from Bhatpara, which is one of the seven seats under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.
State Irrigation Minister Partha Bhowmik, who has been fielded by the Trinamool from Barrackpore this time, said that Singh will lose his credibility among the people of Barrackpore if he keeps changing his political affiliation frequently.
However, state BJP leaders remain non-committal as to whether Singh will be allowed a re-entry into the party.
“Any decision in this regard will be taken by our party high command in Delhi,” said the leader of the opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.
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