Speculation ran high after BJP MP from Bishnupur constituency in Bankura district Saumitra Khan was on Tuesday seen in a programme organised by the Pradesh Congress.
Though all the sides remained tightlipped on the issue and Khan himself avoided posers saying that he had gone to attend the programme on personal capacity, inside sources said that there was much that met the naked eye.
Khan on Tuesday was seen in a blood donation camp organized by the Bankura district Congress.
Though he would not make any political statements during his speech he praised the local Congress leaders for working in the interest of the people.
When asked to comment on his appearance in a Congress programme he said, “I had come here in a personal capacity ... as I had known the local leaders from a very long time when they approached me I readily agreed ... Besides, as I am the local MP there is no problem if I attend such programmes.”
The Trinamool Congress leadership however said that Khan was preparing his grounds ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
“He knows that he may not get a BJP ticket as he has not performed in the past five years ... he even had tried to contact us but the TMC has no place for traitors ... so he is going to the Congress in hope of getting a ticket ... he knows that the Left-Congress alliance has gained ground at the cost of the BJP and he is trying to find a place in that scheme of things.”
Khan has a record of turning coats. While in 2011 he was elected on a Congress ticket from Kotulpur in Bankura in 2014 he joined the TMC and became an MP. Subsequently he joined the BJP and was reelected from Bishnupur parliamentary seat on a saffron ticket.