TMC MP Sisir Adhikari says will attend Prime Minister’s rally after son Suvendu hints at BJP switch

Speaking at a public meeting at Chandipur in East Midnapore on Wednesday, the Nandigram strongman said he will ask his father to be on the dais at another party heavyweight Amit Shah’s rally as well.

Trinamool MP Sisir Adhikari will attend Prime Minister and the party’s poll mascot Narendra Modi’s rally at Contai in East Midnapore district of West Bengal on March 24. (Wikimedia Commons)

Amid speculations of his father’s imminent switch to the saffron camp, the BJP’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari has said that Trinamool MP Sisir Adhikari will attend Prime Minister and the party’s poll mascot Narendra Modi’s rally at Contai in East Midnapore district of West Bengal on March 24.

Speaking at a public meeting at Chandipur in East Midnapore on Wednesday, the Nandigram strongman said he will ask his father to be on the dais at another party heavyweight Amit Shah’s rally as well. “Sisir Adhikari knows everyone here. He will be attending Modiji’s public meeting on March 24. I will also ask him to attend Amit Shah’s East Midnapore rally on March 21,” Adhikari junior said.

While the ruling Trinamool hasn’t severed ties with the veteran leader after his son embraced saffron last December, Sisir Adhikari claims to have dissociated himself from his party.

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“Who said I am still with Trinamool? The ruling party leaders have been abusing my family since last December. People of Midnapore know if we are selfish or selfless. They know the sacrifices we’ve made. If my son has said so, I will go (to Modi’s meeting),” the veteran leader said.

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The Trinamool said it would be no surprise if Adhikari senior joins the BJP. “Sisir babu has said that if his son asks him to attend Modi’s rally, he would do so. His son has said that he will go. We know blood is thicker than water. So, one would expect him to fulfil his son’s wish. We knew Sisir babu would eventually follow in his son’s footsteps. There is no surprise in it,” Trinamool MP and senior leader Sougata Roy said.

BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “Sisir Adhikari is a well-respected leader who has been insulted by the Trinamool. The people of Midnapore will avenge his humiliation by ensuring Trinamool’s defeat.”