Ex-Congressmen Ashok Tanwar, Kirti Azad and ex-JD(U) leader Pavan Varma join TMC
New Delhi: "March to the Centre cannot be possible without the support of states," Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee conveyed the message after prominent leaders from different political parties joined TMC on Tuesday. Ever since the party bagged a stupendous victory against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Assembly polls in Bengal, Trinamool Congress seems to have shifted gears and is signing in new political leaders, mostly at the cost of the Congress.
Ashok Tanwar, who quit the Congress in 2019, joined the Trinamool Congress in the national capital on Tuesday in the presence of Banerjee. Former Haryana Congress chief Tanwar was once considered close to Rahul Gandhi but fell out with the party over his rivalry with the state leaders including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Tanwar had floated Apna Bharat Morcha after quitting the Congress. "The entire country is fed up with misgovernance of BJP. But there has been a consolidated force lacking. But I feel now there is one strong voice and one person can make the party excavated and that is Mamata Banerjee... The hope which I did not find in Congress, found it in Trinamool and shall work towards our mission," Tanwar told media after joining the party.
Political experts feel that Tanwar has given TMC a toehold in Haryana, a state that has played a major role in the farmers' unflinching demand for the withdrawal of the Centre's three farm laws.
Meanwhile, Tanwar has been asked to visit across the state to make the party organisation strong. Mamata Banerjee has also expressed her desire to visit Haryana soon.
Another ex-Congressman and Tanwar's colleague and former Indian batsman Kirti Azad, who joined Congress from BJP in 2019, has now joined Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday during her three-day visit to Delhi. Azad, a three-time Lok Sabha member from Bihar's Darbhanga seat, praised the TMC supremo as someone who can "fight for the country on the ground" and for providing India with "a new direction".
"I am a sportsperson. Caste or religion does not matter to me. I will fight for what is good for the country and keep it together against those who are trying to break it," he mentioned after joining TMC.
Pavan Verma, former Rajya Sabha MP for Janata Dal-United from Bihar, who fell out with party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also joined the Trinamool Congress on the same day. Verma was expelled by the JDU in January 2020 — at the same time as the party's national vice-president Prashant Kishor, who is now a full-time election strategist propelling the Trinamool Congress towards the national stage. He told media persons that he would like to see Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, with the new addition to the party and its expansion plan, political experts further feel that the party has also signalled that it is ready to go ahead for 2024 on its own. The Bengal Chief Minister will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening. She is expected to discuss the issue of expansion in the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the allocation of central funds for Bengal. She might also bring up the issue of political violence in Tripura.
Banerjee is on a visit to the national capital till November 25. However, no meetings have been scheduled with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and that has confirmed the alleged distance between the two opposition parties.
On the day, poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar and political strategist Sudheendra Kulkarni called upon Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Later Sudheendra Kulkarni tweeted: "As always, I was delighted to meet #Mamataji in #Delhi today. Alongwith Javed Akhtar, also met Abhishek Banerjee. A PEOPLE'S LEADER, she vanquished the #BJP in #Bengal. She'll be the catalyst for a big change in national politics."
