Narada accused, former TMC Mayor Sovan Chatterjee joins BJP

NEW DELHI: Former TMC Mayor (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) and a Narada scam accused, Sovan Chatterjee, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday at the party headquarters here.

Senior party leaders of West Bengal like Mukul Roy, Jay Prakash Majumdar and Arvind Menon inducted the former Trinamool-man into the saffron-brigade along with his close friend Baishakhi Banerjee.

Addressing reporters, the former KMC Mayor and once close aide of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stressed on "internal dispute" in TMC as his prime reason of joining the BJP, adding that he was moved by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. However, he ducked questions on the corruption allegations against him.

The party's state wing sees his joining as a major shot in the arm for the BJP in the impending Corporation and Assembly elections. "Sovan has been in Bengal politics for nearly 36 years and was the Mayor of KMC. We are sure that BJP is going to win the corporation election for Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Assembly elections as well," senior BJP leader Mukul Roy said.

Recently, Chatterjee was expelled from Trinamool after a marital dispute with his wife and child due to his proximity to Baishakhi.

Sources here, however, said that a huge drama played out at the party headquarters in Delhi when Chatterjee's former friend and another TMC MLA Debasree Roy also wanted to join the party, but the actor-turned-politician was eventually not inducted. Speaking to media persons, Mukul Roy dismissed any alleged communication with her and said that the Trinamool MLA was not going to join the BJP.