Tapas Roy’s defection post ED raid proves BJP works like washing machine: Abhishek

Kolkata: Reacting to his party’s former senior MLA Tapas Roy’s defection to the BJP, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general Abhishek Banerjee, on Thursday, said the switchover of Roy, whose house was raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year, proved that the saffron brigade works like a “washing machine”.

Roy, who joined BJP on Wednesday, resubmitted his resignation from the MLA position on Thursday to Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay. His first resignation was initially rejected as it was machine-typed and that the norm is that it should be hand written, as learnt.

Meanwhile, sharing the image of Roy joining the BJP in the presence of BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumder and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Abhishek Banerjee wrote on X: “The@BJP4India’s ‘WASHING MACHINE’ saga continues as @TapasRoyAITC swiftly joins the ANTI BENGAL Gang within 2 months of the ED raiding his house. This IMAGE is a testament of the BJP’s TREATMENT of the people of Bengal, reinforcing why they are often referred to as ZAMINDARS.”

Abhishek’s claim was reiterated by party chairperson Mamata Banerjee during her speech at Esplanade where the women’s rally by the party concluded. Without naming Roy, she said that another person who was recently raided by the ED jumped to BJP in fear. She said it proved that the saffron brigade is a “washing machine” where anyone facing ED/CBI raids can join to ward off any further threat. With Roy switching over to the BJP, some of the Trinamool leaders have called him a “traitor” who switched camps for “cynical gains”.

Incidentally, before joining BJP, Roy had said that one of the reasons for joining the BJP is the alleged lack of support by his party when his residence was raided by ED. He had lamented that Mamata Banerjee condemned the ED raid at the house of the Sandeshkhali case’s prime accused Sheikh Shajahan on the floor of the Assembly but did not for once condemn the raid at his house. He had alleged that some members of the TMC were responsible for the raid at his house.