The cynosure of Amit Shah’s public address in Medinipur was former Trinamool heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari who officially joined the BJP on Saturday. As he started addressing the crowd at Midnapore College Ground, Amit Shah himself said the star of today’s show was Adhikari whose exit from the party is believed to have a future impact on West Bengal Assembly election 2021.
As Suvendu joined the BJP severing decades-old ties with the Trinamool, he recalled the first time he met Amit Shah. At that time, he was the party chief. It was during the Lok Sabha Election 2014. Suvendu met Shah through Siddharth Nath Singh who was BJP’s in-charge of Bengal at that time. “Now he is the health minister of Uttar Pradesh Cabinet. They never asked me to join the party at that time,” Suvendu said recalling.
When Suvendu tested positive for Covid-19, Amit Shah called him twice, he said. “None of my party colleagues with whom I have worked for years called me, But Amit Shah ji enquired about my health,” he said.
“I am assuring all local leaders I am not here to dominate or dictate terms to you. I will work as an ordinary worker of the BJP. My background is rooted in student politics. If you ask me to put up posters, I will do that,” he said addressing the local leaders of the BJP.
After resigning from the post of the transport minister, Suvendu submitted his resignation as MLA on December 16. The resignation, however, has not been accepted yet. West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Friday said that he has not accepted the resignation as it does not conform to the provisions of the Constitution and the rules of the House.
“Unless and until I am satisfied that the resignation is voluntary and genuine, it is not possible for me to accept the same in the light of the provisions of the Constitution of India and the rules of procedure and conduct of business in West Bengal Legislative Assembly,” he said.
