Two former ministers and senior leaders of the Forward Block in West Bengal joined the Trinamool Congress on Thursday.
Paresh Adhikary, the food minister of the then Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government, has been given the post of the district president of the Trinamool Congress minutes after his inclusion. Mortaja Hossain, who was the agricultural marketing minister in the left front government, said he joined Trinamool Congress with a lot of hope and respect. It was not immediately known what role he would be given.
Partha Chatterjee, senior cabinet minister and secretary general of the Trinamool Congress, said that Hossain's inclusion was very much needed when some elements were trying to “communalise” the West Bengal politics.
"I am sure such a senior and educated leader like Hossain would play a key role with us in the coming days," said he.
Sources said both of them would be given tickets in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Adhikary would be a gift for Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a time when BJP has made a huge progress in Cooch Behar, earlier represented by him during the left rule. Adhikary used to be an MLA for many times during the left rule.
Banerjee had earlier blamed his minister for North Bengal development, Rabindranath Ghosh, also a former Forward Block leader, for unable to contain BJP in Cooch Behar, known to be largely influenced by the politics in Assam. Cooch Behar and Alipurduar are two districts where BJP has become a formidable opposition to Trinamool Congress.
Forward Block refused to make any official comment about Adhikary and Hossain joining the Trinamool Congress.
One of its leaders, however, said, "Both Adhikary and Hossain are ideologically corrupt and so decided to join a corrupt party."