A day after voicing her discontent with her party, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Satabdi Roy on Friday did an about-turn and said she was “with Trinamool”. Days after Trinamool Congress MP and actor Satabdi Roy dropped hints that she may quit the party, she was made the vice-president of the party’s West Bengal unit on Sunday. Besides Roy, the party also added two new names in its state committee – Moazzem Hossain and Shankar Chakraborty.
Expressing her happiness over her appointment, Roy, a three-time MP, said she would work as a dedicated worker of the party.
“I am very happy with the decision. I welcome this decision as the top leadership has reposed faith in my abilities. This goes to show that if one has any reservations against the party, the top leadership is ready to address such issues,” the TMC MP from Birbhum told mediapersons.
On Thursday, Roy expressed unhappiness over not being informed about the party’s events in her constituency, saying that it caused “mental pain”. In a Facebook post, Roy said she would inform the people of her “future course of action”. Amid reports that she may head to Delhi to meet BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Trinamool Congress leadership reached out to her. While TMC leader Kunal Ghosh met Roy to persuade her to stay in the party, it was only after her two-hour-long meeting with Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday she announced that she would “stay with the Trinamool”.
“I am with Trinamool. I am staying with the party because of (Trinamool chief) Mamata Banerjee. This is the time to stay together and put up a united fight. I have apprised Abhishek Banerjee of my complaints with the party. He has given assurances to address the issues,” Roy had said after meeting Abhishek, the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Roy in her electoral debut had snatched the Birbhum seat from CPI(M) heavyweight Ram Chandra Dome, and managed to win it by an overwhelming margin in 2019, even as the BJP had routed the Trinamool Congress in the nearby constituencies.
Asked about the appointment of Roy and other leaders in the state committee, Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “It is an organisational matter. Why should we discuss this with the media? This is not to be discussed in a news conference.”
Siraj Khan back into TMC from BJP
Siraj Khan, who had defected to the BJP last year, returned to the Trinamool Congress on Sunday. Khan was re-inducted into the party by senior leader Partha Chatterjee here. “It was a mistake to join the BJP. There is a way you can work for the people there. I began to understand that I made a mistake by leaving the Trinamool Congress. Therefore, I decided to return to the party,” Khan, a member of the East Midnapore Zilla Parishad, said after his induction into the party.
