Hooghly TMC leaders return to party fold from BJP

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supporters in Hooghly who had recently joined BJP, returned back to the party fold at a function chaired by Firhad Hakim on Wednesday afternoon.

Prominent party leaders Sanjay Dloui, pradhan of Krishnapur Gram Panchayat and Sandip Bar, pradhan of Rammohunpur Gram Panchayat were among the leaders who returned to Trinamool Congress. Hakim gave them party flags and welcomed them back to the party. The other leaders include Dipika Maity, Jhuma Bar, Sital Majhi, Prafulla Pandit, Manjushree Samanta and Pranab Maity, among others.

Hakim said after the results of Lok Sabha election was declared on 23 May, BJP had unleashed a reign of terror as the law and order was under the Election Commission of India. The saffron party had deployed musclemen from Jharkhand to create trouble in Jangalmahal. Trouble broke out in various parts in the state as a result, which continued till May 28.

The BJP workers had attacked the houses of these leaders and threatened them with dire consequences. Later, they were taken to the BJP headquarters in Delhi and forced to join the party.

Hakim said after one month or so of joining BJP, the leaders got in touch with him and expressed their desire to come back to Trinamool. "They told me that the culture of BJP is so different from the culture of Bengal, they felt claustrophobic," he said, adding: "You cannot win the hearts of the people by creating phobia. People in Bengal have kept their faith in Mamata Banerjee and they will continue to do so in future."