Tathagata's tweet to induct Vijayvargiya in TMC ruffles many feathers in BJP

KOLKATA: Tathagata Roy's post on social media, mocking saffron party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya—whom Roy attributed as Mukul Roy's friend—has sparked controversy. Taking a sarcastic dig at Vijayvargiya on social media, Tathagata appealed Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee to take Vijayvargiya—into her party fold.

Roy's post, which accompanies an old picture of Mukul Roy with Kailash Vijayvargiya, has created furore in the BJP. Reposting another twitter user's post, Roy tweeted a translated version of the original post. "Auntie (Buaji) Mamata, please take this stupid cat into Trinamool. He may be heartbroken missing his friend! They used to remain closeted together for the whole day," Roy's post read. The original tweet in Bengal was composed by Debakar Debnath, a BJP supporter.

State BJP leaders said Roy had been attacking Vijayvargiya since the Assembly election results had been announced and held the latter responsible for the party's poll debacle. Vijayvargiya had played a crucial role in joining the Trinamool turncoats into the BJP.

Earlier, the central BJP leadership had asked Roy to meet them in Delhi. But, Roy—who was the former state president of BJP— did not go as he was not well then. Sources said central leadership of the saffron party had alleged that as Dilip Ghosh might be inducted into the Central ministry and would have to quit the state president's post, Roy was trying to use the situation in his favour.

Meanwhile, Ratan Ghosh and Firoz Kalam Gazi, two of Mukul Roy's close associates, left BJP on Sunday and expressed their willingness to rejoin Trinamool. Many TMC turncoats, who had joined BJP before the election, have expressed their desire to come back to TMC and work under Mamata Banerjee. However, Trinamool leaders including Jyotipriya Mullick and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the final call regarding the turncoats would be taken by Banerjee.