Senior Trinamool Congress leader and former Bengal Minister who had on Tuesday quit the party on Wednesday joined the BJP.
Angered at being ignored by the top leadership including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee post a raid by the Enforcement Directorate at his house Tapas Roy had quit not only his party but also his membership of the State Assembly.
One of the founder-members of the TMC who is regarded for his integrity Roy had not been in good terms with TMC veteran and leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay and had earlier alleged that Bandopadhyay was behind the raids.
"I am joining the BJP today," Roy who has a good deal of influence in the Kolkata North constituency said adding, "BJP's Amit Malavya, Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanata Majumdar had contacted me."
He said, "at present the picture of Bengal is very grim … the people are being killed as we saw at Bagtui and other places … women are being insulted and corruption is rampant … this is not what we wanted after bringing the CPI(M) government down … now I think the BJP can take Bengal towards the path of development."
On whether the TMC would be able to win the coming elections he said, "a Government of pirates and demons cannot stand … they will crumble down soon."
A five-time MLA Roy has been a backer of the TMC's youth brigade led by Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
According to inside sources it was due to Bandopadhyay that Roy had to leave the party. The difference between the two senior leaders is around the North Kolkata seat from where Bandopadhyay --- already into the seventies --- has been an MP for the past 15 years.
As Roy backed Abhishek Banerjee in his efforts to infuse young generation in the party Bandopadhyay took it as a threat to his candidature from North Kolkata and apparently used his Delhi clout to send the ED to his house, insiders said.
Cut to Wednesday. When asked as to whether he would contest the parliamentary elections from the North Kolkata seat, Roy said he would if his party thought him fit to contest from the seat. "I am duty bound to do whatever my new party says," he said.
Meanwhile, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh rued the exit of a "senior and honest leader like Tapas Roy from the party," and appealed to the leadership to see that such exodus did not take place in future.
"It is unfortunate that a leader like Tapas Roy will go out of TMC and it is more unfortunate that he will join the BJP against which he and Mamata Banerjee together have stood for years … the party has to see that such incidents do not take place again," he said.