Bengal MLA dissociates from BJP; refuses invite to TMC

Raiganj MLA Krishna Kalyani of the BJP on Friday announced that he has decided to dissociate from the party. He alleged that it was impossible for him to work for the common people as MP and former Union minister Debashree Choudhury runs the show in the region.

Kalyani has alleged that Choudhury hatched conspiracies to defeat him during the assembly elections. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress has invited him to join the party.

"Raiganj MP Debasree Choudhury has been conspiring against me for a long time now. She has called me a traitor, but in reality, she is the one to have hatched a conspiracy to ensure my defeat from Raiganj as it suited her personal agenda," Kalyani claimed. Though Kalyani had made similar remarks two weeks ago, Choudhury had said that she would not react to such "cheap and tasteless attacks". Instead, she maintained that she had worked for the victory of Kalyani and other candidates during the assembly polls as a true worker of the BJP. The accusations against her are "unfair and totally false", she added.

Kalyani further accused the state and central leadership of disregarding his grievances and said that "it is in the fitness of things that I dissociate myself from the party. The decision comes in force with immediate effect". Whether he has sent in a resignation letter to the top authorities or not is still unclear.

Kalyani, however, stated that he has no intentions to join the TMC as of now. Veteran Trinamool MP Sougata Roy had also welcomed Kalyani to the party following the development. However, Kalyani said that "my only wish is to serve the people of my constituency, which seems impossible in the BJP with that one person (Ms Choudhury) running the organisation here." Several BJP MLAs, including Mukul Roy, MP Babul Supriyo, have already quit the saffron party and joined the TMC. But though there are several BJP leaders queueing up outside TMC's office, the party will only take them after thorough screening, said Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.