Former Union minister Babul Supriyo, who joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) last week months after he resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday said that he wants to be part of a team that embraces him warmly and makes him part of the playing 11.
Citing the example of Lionel Messi to defend his move to switch from the BJP to the TMC, he said that even the footballer didn’t want to exit Barcelona. “Did he want to leave Barcelona? The situation was such that he cried during the press conference. Then he went to PSG. And now you are saying that ‘while playing for PSG, is he expected to core against Barcelona? Or is he going to stand still in front of the goal post because he needs to be loyal to his ex-team…which transformed him’,” he said.
In an interview with a TV channel, Babul Supriyo said, “I have not created history…I’m not the first to leave a party and join another one.”
Referring to the new West Bengal BJP chief’s reported comment that the state was facing “Talibanisation”, he said the term ought not to be used lightly. He said he had opposed it, too, when the Opposition and critics like lyricist Javed Akhtar had said similar things about the BJP. “Taliban is the name of a very wrong and cheap mindset. The term should not be used casually,” he said.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief J.P. Nadda, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Trinamool Congress member said he has worked with them for seven years and learnt a lot from the BJP.
He emphasised that his own 2014 electoral victory from Asansol may have been based on his image as a Bollywood singer, but it was his public worked that ensured his 2019 re-election. “Whenever I play for whichever team, I’d want to give my sweat and blood in the playing field itself. It is not in my DNA to take the salary and perks from the public and then warm the benches,” he said.
Supriyo denied the allegation that he had joined the TMC to stay in power. “If that is so, what power have I got in Trinamool? I have already sought an appointment with the Honourable (Lok Sabha) Speaker. I want to stay on this moral ground. I am immediately resigning as MP of Asansol,” he said.
Earlier, after meeting West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday, Supriyo said that he is happy to be welcomed in Trinamool Congress (TMC). “I am very happy to meet CM Mamata Banerjee. The way she welcomed me to the TMC family is very warm. She asked me to work with all my heart and sing with all my heart which I think is icing on the cake. She said ‘Pujor samayo tumi gaan karo’ (Sing during the time of Puja).”
He added, “We had a very musical talk, at the same time whatever she said was really music to my ears. I want to thank Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and party General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee for welcoming me so affectionately and warmly to the TMC family.”
The BJP slammed Supriyo for joining the TMC. On Sunday, BJP MP from West Bengal’s Ranaghat Jagannath Sarkar alleged that Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to evade the allegations of his involvement in the coal theft and cow smuggling cases.