MP Arjun Singh trolls BJP after joining TMC, says party 'limited to Facebook'

|HT|

The Bharatiya Janata Party is 'limited to Facebook', Lok Sabha MP Arjun Singh said Sunday as he crossed over to Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress. Singh - who re-joins the TMC 38 months after he left them to join the BJP - ripped into his former party at a (re-) induction presided over by Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee. Singh declared that the BJP - which slumped to defeat against the Trinamool in last year's assembly election - is facing a daily decline in the state. "BJP is an organisation limited to Facebook. There is inconvenience working in the party," Singh said, adding, "Lots of people want to join (TMC)… if there is a clearance the names will be revealed."

"Politics can't be done while sitting in AC rooms," Singh - who was also vice president of the BJP's state unit - reminded his former colleagues, "… have to get down to the ground to do politics. We have lost many of our friends. We worked on the ground and defeated CPIM." Arjun Singh was welcomed back into the Trinamool Congress fold at Abhishek Banerjee's office on Camac Street in south Kolkata. Interestingly, although the Trinamool uploaded photos of Singh’s joining on social media at 5.45 pm, Banerjee did not appear at the press conference that followed, which was seen as a marked departure from the norm.

At that presser Singh declared he had only left the TMC because of 'misunderstandings' and that he had 'returned home where I belong'.

"I left the BJP because of the treatment being meted out to Bengal. Our jute industry is suffering because of the Centre," Singh said.

Meanwhile, visuals also showed BJP flags removed from Arjun Singh's residence in Barrackpore and replaced with Trinamool flags. Abhishek Banerjee may not have been present for Singh's post-joining presser but he did tweet a brief welcome, saying Singh had rejected the 'divisive forces' - a swipe at the BJP - and joined the Trinamool.

"Extending a warm welcome to Arjun Singh, who rejected the divisive forces at BJP and joined the Trinamool Congress family today. People across the nation are suffering and they need us now more than ever. Let's keep the fight alive."

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)