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Journalism of Courage
Hours after Mukul Roy’s son Subhranshu Roy on Monday claimed that his father was “untraceable” and filed a complaint with the West Bengal Police, the senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader arrived in Delhi, fuelling speculations of his return to the BJP.
Sources on Tuesday said a West Bengal Police team from the Bidhannagar Commissionerate, acting on Subhranshu Roy’s complaint, left for Delhi to look for Mukul. Later on Tuesday night, the senior MLA told Bengali news channels he was still a BJP legislator and in touch with party leaders. “I am a BJP legislator. I want to be with the BJP. The party has made arrangements for my stay here. I want to meet Amit Shah and speak to (party president) J P Nadda,” he told a Bengali news channel, according to PTI.
Mukul Roy is a founding member of the TMC and was once the party’s master strategist and second in command. He joined the BJP in 2017 due to differences with the top leadership and was instrumental in helping the party win 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 general elections. A year later, he was made BJP national vice-president. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, he won from Krishnanagar Uttar Assembly seat on a BJP ticket but soon left the party and returned to the TMC.
He, however, did not resign from the Assembly and continues to remain a BJP MLA. The TMC appointed him as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman. But in June 2022, he resigned from the post as the BJP questioned his appointment. Since then, Roy has not been playing an active role in politics. Since undergoing brain surgery in March, Roy stayed away from the public eye.
Reacting to the developments earlier on Tuesday, Subhranshu alleged some people were indulging in “petty politics” and trying to take advantage of his father’s ill health. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Subhranshu, without naming anyone, said: “They have indulged in politics with Mukul Roy to malign the image of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee. My father is unwell and needs immediate hospitalisation. Till now, I have not been able to contact him. I came to know that he is in Delhi through the news. This is nothing but petty politics. A conspiracy has been hatched.”
Subhranshu who too was earlier with the BJP is a former MLA. He returned to the TMC along with his father in 2021. He claimed that after coming to know on Monday night that his father was travelling to Delhi he requested the authorities to deboard him. But by then “the flight had taken off”.
Claiming that his father suffers from dementia and Parkinson’s disease, Subhranshu said: “My father is not in the right frame of mind. I request everyone not to do politics with an unwell person… This is shameful that some people have stooped so low and are doing politics over my father’s visit to New Delhi. If my father joins the BJP now, he will not join in a mentally stable state.”
Speculation about Mukul Roy’s return to the BJP was rife on Tuesday after BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra wrote “pratyabartan (comeback)” on a Facebook post. “It is time to wait and watch. Please wait for one or two more days, everything will be clear very soon,” Hazra said when asked about his cryptic post.
Meanwhile, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said: “He (Mukul Roy) has been missing in action for a long time. Have you seen him anywhere? He is a big politician and a sitting MLA but there is no news about him. It is a lost cause because no one cares about him anymore. I wish him good health.”
The TMC remained tight-lipped about the developments. “He (Mukul Roy) has not been keeping well for a very long time. Now, why he has gone to Delhi, only he can tell. We as the party cannot say anything about this. We wish him a speedy recovery,” said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
