Dinesh Trivedi's exit leaves TMC without key face in Delhi, urban Bengal ahead of bitter electoral battle

Trivedi is likely to move to the BJP, with media reports quoting him as saying that joining the BJP would be a ‘privilege’.

File photo of Dinesh Trivedi, who recently resigned from TMC. PTI

The departure of Dinesh Trivedi from the Trinamool Congress is the latest major shock for the regional party as it prepares for a limitless electoral contest in West Bengal.

Trivedi will almost certainly join the Bharatiya Janata Party, with media reports and he quoted him as saying: “I am very grateful to the BJP and its top leaders, they told me that they have said that I am welcome. It would be a privilege, there is no question about it. But let me sit down.”

There is great speculation that Trivedi may be given a Rajya Sabha seat, according to PTI. Two seats in the Gujarat upper house are currently vacant and will go to the polls next month.

With Trivedi leaving the TMC, the party has lost a prominent urban face and a leader who left his mark as a parliamentarian and union minister.

The TMC has already suffered multiple similar setbacks, in the form of the departures of Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee.

Political career

Dinesh Trivedi began his political career in the Congress in the 1980s, then passed to Janata Dal, before moving to the Trinamool Congress in 1998.

He was elected to the Upper House of Parliament for the first term in April 1990 and for another term in May 2002. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the third time in July 2020, with more than five years remaining in office. . its term.

Trivedi was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009. During the UPA-II government term, he served first as the Union Minister of State for Health and then as the Minister of Railways. However, in a rather unusual turn of events, party boss Mamata Banerjee had him resign as Union Railways Minister in March 2012. Banerjee was reportedly upset with Trivedi for his plan to increase tariffs for train announced in the railway budget.

However, Trivedi later contested and won Barrackpore’s Lok Sabha election on a TMC ticket.

He recently lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Barrackpore to former TMC MLA and BJP candidate Arjun Singh.

As a TMC MP, Trivedi has fiercely attacked the BJP in the past. During a debate on demonetization in February 2019, he criticized the ban on the notes and called Mamata Banerjee “the Jhansi ki Rani of today”, as Noticed by Times now.

However, Trivedi, who has Gujarati roots, is known to share good personal relationships with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Interior Minister Amit Shah.

In January 2015, he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express, “He (Modi) has a vision. Something is changing in the way the world views India. That is because of Modi. This is not a time for negativity, but to work positively.”

Differences with TMC

On Friday, while speaking to reporters after submitting his resignation, Trivedi said: “TMC is no longer in the hands of Mamata Banerjee. It has been taken over by a corporate professional, who does not understand politics. And there is no forum within the party.” . to air our opinions. “

He further said: “I am grateful to my party for sending me here (Parliament), but now I feel a bit suffocated. We cannot do anything and there are atrocities (happening). My voice of conscience says what Swami Vivekananda used to say: get up. , wake up and don’t stop until you reach the goal. “

He also cited the ‘violence’ in West Bengal as a reason for his decision to resign, and was quoted by The Hindu saying: “I cannot remain silent when there is corruption in the party and violence in the streets of Bengal. Now, when the parade of the BJP president, JP Nadda, was attacked, the party condemned me because they did not approve of violence. Every day he was asked to abuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That is not my value system. “

Recently, Trivedi had endorsed Modi’s Lok Sabha speech on Twitter, saying:

Trivedi’s disenchantment with the TMC is believed to have stemmed from several factors, from fights with his fellow MPs. Derek O’Brien and disagreements over the party’s association with the Prashant Kishor IAPC.

A article in The impression He quotes a close Trivedi aide as saying that he “regretted the way the Trinamool polling strategist had taken over the social media accounts of party leaders and controlled all political decisions.”

After the TMC MP announced his sudden resignation from the Rajya Sabha, TMC leaders called Trivedi “ungrateful” and said he had betrayed the trust of the masses.

TMC Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray was quoted by PTI, “For the last few years he (Trivedi) said nothing. Now all of a sudden, a few months before the state Assembly elections, he has complaints. This shows his true colors.”

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and MP Abhishek banerjee he reacted to Trivedi’s departure in an even more scathing tone, as he said, “Trivedi was saying he was feeling suffocated … let him go and get admitted to BJP ICU.”

While the TMC may try to downplay the importance of Trivedi jumping ship, the departure of the top leader may turn out to be another major shake-up for the party ahead of the crucial Assembly elections.

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