Bengali actress quits BJP over 'lack of initiative' in the state

Seven months after she joined the party, popular Bengali actress Srabanthi Chatterjee has announced that she will be leaving the Bharatiya Janatha Party outfit in Bengal, citing the party's "lack of initiative" in furthering any cause related to Bengal.

"Severing all ties with the BJP, the party for which I fought the last state elections.Reason being their lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of Bengal..." the actress tweeted. She has not yet made it clear whether she will be joining any other party although speculation is rife that the Trinamool Congress may be next on her list.

The BJP cadre in Bengal has been seeing a steady outflow of members after the defeat in assembly elections this year. State BJP Vice-President Mukul Roy quit the party soon after while Babul Supriyo, who contested in the state polls and lost, also quit to join the Trinamool Congress. Former BJP MLAs Biswajit Das, Tanmoy Ghosh and Soumen Ray had also switched allegiance to the TMC.

Mukul Roy, who won a seat in April from the Krishnanagar Uttar constituency as a BJP candidate returned to the Trinamool Congress fuelling rumours that defections from the Trinamool party to BJP might be imminent as well. Roy had also previously worked as Trinamool strategist before joining the BJP in 2017.