KIRTI AZAD, PAVAN VARMA JOIN TMC

Cricketer-turned-politician and Congress leader Kirti Azad joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday in the presence of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here. Ashok Tanwar, 45, a former president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) who also served as a Lok Sabha MP from Sirsa in Haryana, also joined the TMC. Earlier in the day, former JDU Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma also joined Trinamool Congress. “Cricketer-turned-politician, Shri @KirtiAzaad joined our Trinamool Congress family today, in the presence of our Chairperson @MamataOfficial and our National General Secretary @abhishekaitc We welcome him warmly and look forward to working together in this new journey!” AITC tweeted. After joining the TMC, Azad said that a personality like Mamata Banerjee is needed to show the country the right direction. “It makes me happy to say that under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, I will work for the development of the nation. Today, a personality like her is needed in the country who can show the country the right direction,” he said. Azad was a part of the World Cup-winning Indian team in 1983. A cricketer-turned-politician, Azad was elected to Lok Sabha thrice from Darbhanga in Bihar. He had fought the 2014 general elections on a BJP ticket.

On 23 December, 2015, he was suspended from BJP for openly targeting then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities and corruption in Delhi and District Cricket Association and later in 2018, he joined Congress.

Tanwar had in 2019 quit the Congress to float “Apna Bharat Morcha”. His decision to part ways with the Congress was largely attributed to his rivalry with state party leaders, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

After he joined the TMC on Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee told reporters, “I want to go to Haryana. I will go as soon as Ashokji calls me. Thank you for taking this decision for the country, to defeat the BJP.”

Meanwhile, former JDU Rajya Sabha MP Pavan Varma, 68, who also joined the TMC on Tuesday, is a diplomat-turned-politician who has authored several books and served as an advisor to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with the rank of Cabinet minister. Talking to reporters after joining the TMC on Tuesday, Pavan Varma said that he would like to see Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.“I believe TMC is becoming a formidable force in the country and is on the path to becoming the leading Opposition, which is why I took this decision,” Varma said on Tuesday. Asked if he was persuaded by Prashant Kishor to join the TMC, Varma said, “Surely we are good friends, I do consult with him but I won’t put this decision of mine on him. I don’t believe we should rule out any options in a large democracy like ours. The question is whether they are on the right track and that answer is surely TMC is slowly walking towards becoming the single largest Opposition party.”

Responding to a question about whether the TMC plans to expand its footprint in Bihar, Varma said, “I can certainly say there are more to come if it’s about Bihar.” The Nitish Kumar-led JDU had expelled Pavan Varma and poll strategist Prashant Kishor from the party on 29 January 2020, for allegedly failing to accept “party discipline”.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee will meet PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday to discuss issues pertaining to the Border Security Force and developments of the state, as she is on a visit to Delhi.