Bhunia joins TMC, along with 51 others, Cong left gasping

Veteran Congress leaders Manas Bhunia and Mohammad Shorab – along with 50 other leaders of the party – on Monday joined Trinamool Congress.

Other prominent Congress leaders who joined TMC include general secretary of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) Kanak Debnath, Asit Majumdar, Ajay Ghosh and Manoj Pandey.

Talking to newsmen, Trinamool’s Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said that with senior Congress stalwarts like Bhuniya joining the TMC fold that WBPCC had virtually become non-functional. “WBPCC will cease to exist,” he said, while referring to WBPCC president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan as ‘Jagai and Madhai’.

Calling it an “important day,” Chatterjee said the new high profile Congress inductees would help the party grow in strength and further expedite development work in the state. He added that many Congress leaders were disenchanted with the alliance with CPI(M) and it had proved disastrous for both parties.

Bhunia – who had joined Congress as a medical student under the leadership of Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi – said the Congress was going through its ‘darkest days’ under the leadership of Chowdhury and Mannan. “I am on good terms with AICC (All India Congress Committee), but CP Joshi who is looking after Bengal stood as a stumbling block and the two local leaders harmed the party’s interest.”

Bhunia was earlier the PCC president, leader of Opposition and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during the Left Front regime. He currently holds the post of PAC chairman, and his differences with the PCC leadership grew over his acceptance of the post. “Now I am a worker of Trinamool Congress and I will follow the instructions of the leaders,” said Bhunia.

Mohammad Shorab said he had joined Congress in 1956 and had decided to leave the party because of ‘false promises made by the present day leadership.’ “I did not support the way the party’s leaders surrendered before CPI(M) and secondly, the way they behaved with Bhunia was uncalled for. I thought that it would not be possible for me to continue in the Congress and decided to join Trinamool Congress as I support the initiatives taken by Mamata Banerjee to develop Bengal.”