Manas Bhunia joins TMC, dubs it as ‘real Congress’

“Today I have joined the real Congress, that is Trinamool Congress. The Congress with which I was associated for 46 years is completely ruined because of (AICC general secretary) C P Joshi, (state unit chief) Adhir Chowdhury and (Leader of Opposition) Abdul Mannan,” Bhunia told mediapersons at the ceremony.

“From today, I am a loyal soldier of Trinamool Congress and will abide by the orders and decisions of Mamata Banerjee,” the six-time MLA from Sabang of West Midnapore added. Later, he meet Trinamool chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at state secretariat Nabanna.

Asked whether he has communicated his decision to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Bhunia said: “I used to communicate with Soniaji, Rahulji four times a month. But now there is a big mountain between us and the mountain is Joshi and two state congress leaders, Adhir Chowdhury and Abdul Mannan.” Bidhan Bhavan (state Congress office) now looks as a ghost house, he added.

Asked whether he got any assurance from the Trinamool regarding the withdrawal of a murder case pending against him at Sabang, he said, “Law will take its own course… The matter is before the court and I won’t comment on it.”

In April, a Trinamool Congress worker, Joydeb Jana (30), was beaten to death allegedly by a group of Congress and CPM supporters at Dubrajpur in West Midnapore. Bhunia, who was later booked in the case, had claimed it was done at the behest of Trinamool.

“The party which I have joined has Mamata Banerjee at its helm. She is also the chief minister of Bengal. I am a mere worker of the party now. She will decide my present and future in the party,” Bhunia added.

He also refused to give a direct reply whether he would quit as MLA and fight a bypoll on a Trinamool ticket. “It is for my party, the TMC leadership, to decide,” he said. On stepping down as the PAC chairman, he said: “It is the prerogative of the Assembly Speaker to decide.”

When asked, Adhir Chowdhury said it was a foregone conclusion that Bhunia had “succumbed to the pressure tactic of Mamata Banerjee”.

“A Congress worker, who was trying to save patients at a hospital in Murshidabad when a fire had broken out recently, has been put behind bars. But an accused in a murder case, whose bail plea has been rejected by the court, conducts a press conference with leaders of the ruling party. Isn’t it clear what is going on?” he said.

“Bhunia has turned into a political slave by joining a party where there was no freedom of speech and expression,” he added.

Last week, Bhunia had indicated that he might quit the party after his two-month long tussle with the state leadership and AICC over his acceptance of the PAC chairman’s post, which Congress wanted to go to its alliance partner CPM. Bhunia’s brother Bikash Bhunia, who was also a Congress leader, had recently joined Trinamool.

Heaping praise on Mamata, Bhunia last week had described her as the “best chief minister in the country” and said all parties should thank her for returning the land to farmers in Singur.

The high-powered central disciplinary action committee of Congress, headed by A K Antony, had sought an explanation from Bhunia for his actions that had put him at loggerheads with the state Congress. The state CLP had also recommended his suspension.

Bhunia was a cabinet minister in the Mamata government in 2011 when Congress was a part of it.