Bengal elections: Former TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi joins BJP in presence of JP Nadda

New Delhi: Ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls, Dinesh Trivedi, who had resigned as TMC MP in Rajya Sabha on February 12, joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of the party’s national president JP Nadda on Saturday.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal was also present on the occasion.

“This is the golden moment for me, for which I have been waiting for a long time. Nadda ji and my friends knew I was waiting for this. I never left ideology. The nation was above everything for me. Every person believes that PM Narendra Modi and BJP will keep the nation secure,” Trivedi said.

Delhi: Dinesh Trivedi, who had resigned as TMC MP in Rajya Sabha on February 12th, joins BJP in the presence of the party’s national president JP Nadda. Union Minister Piyush Goyal also present. pic.twitter.com/wCHlDbrcAz

— ANI (@ANI) March 6, 2021

‘Golden moment for me,’ says Trivedi after joining BJP

Trivedi resigned as Trinamool Congress MP from Rajya Sabha in February.

While announcing his resignation in the Rajya Sabha, Trivedi had said he was feeling suffocated. He also raked up the issue of violence in Bengal, which is also being raised by the BJP.

Several TMC leaders had earlier joined the BJP in the run up to Assembly elections.

I’ll be active in election process, irrespective of whether I contest or not. Bengal has rejected TMC. They want progress, not corruption or violence. They’re ready for real change. Politics isn’t ‘khela’, it’s serious. She (CM) forgot her ideals while playing: Dinesh Trivedi pic.twitter.com/JiRMlo2xrW

— ANI (@ANI) March 6, 2021

West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.

‘Feeling suffocated,’ Trivedi said in Rajya Sabha before quitting party

Veteran Trinamool Congress leader and former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi announced his resignation from the Rajya Sabha during live session last month, saying that he is “feeling suffocated” over spate of violence in his state and over his “inability to do anything”.

Participating in the budget discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Trivedi said he will continue to work for Bengal. Though the former railway minister did not say if he will continue in the Trinamool Congress, there was strong speculation that he might jump ship to the BJP.

Trivedi said he comes from the land of Rabindranath Tagore, Subhash Chandra Bose and Khudiram Bose, and hence he can’t continue to sit silent when his state “is witnessing so much violence”.

“What can I do? My actions are limited. There is party discipline… but I am grateful to my party that they have sent me here,” Trivedi said.