Suvendu Saga Continues As He Says, ‘Not Possible To Continue, Forgive Me’

Kolkata: Call it a mystery or a jigsaw puzzle, the saga of TMC MLA and former West Bengal minister Suvendu Adhikari seems never ending.

The Jangalmahal strongman on Wednesday informed senior party MP Saugata Roy through an SMS: “Not possible to continue, forgive me”.

The message comes 16 hours after the Trinamool Congress stated that “all problems” with Adhikari had been “sorted” following a two-hour meeting with him late on Tuesday evening. Young party MP Abhishek Banerjee, election strategist Prashant Kishor, MPs Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandopadhyay were tasked with the responsibility of persuading Adhikari not to leave the party.

Former transport minister Roy was crestfallen on receiving Adhikari’s message. “I have communicated to you truthfully whatever happened at the meeting last evening and what was decided in the presence of five people. If there is any change of mind on the part of Suvendu, it is for him to decide and communicate to you,” Roy said.

Speculation has been rife since the beginning of November when supporters of Adhikari – who was still a minister then — organised rallies in and around West Midnapore with posters of Suvendu Adhikari but no mention of TMC. Instead, it read ‘dadar anugami’ (followers of elder brother).

The posters had raised eyebrows in districts as well as in the corridors of power in Kolkata. Suvendu, however, refrained from making any political comment and just asked for his supporters’ backing.

Experts felt that the powerful MLA, who holds sway in both East and West Midnapore besides being popular in nearby districts of Purulia and Bankura, would defect to the BJP or Congress.

Wednesday’s SMS has all but made it clear that Adhikari’s days with TMC are over. Everyone is now eager to find out if the leader joins any of the parties or fights the upcoming assembly election on his own.

BJP’s nation general secretary and the man in charge of West Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya, said: “There was no chance of a rapprochement. The issue with Suvendu was corruption within the party, about tainted people in the party, who were being shielded by Abhishek. There is no one in the party, who can point fingers at Abhishek.”

Senior Left Front leader and Politburo member Sujan Chakraborty is of the opinion that it’s all a drama. “No matter what happens, people are aware of the true colour of both the TMC and the BJP. Even as the drama over defection continues, people know who their real friends are,” claimed Chakraborty.

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