Former President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit joins TMC

He was welcomed into the party by TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, amid shouts of 'Mamata Banerjee Zindabad!'

Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s son and former Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday. He joined the ruling party in the state in presence of TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee and leader of the party in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay.

Speaking to reporters at the TMC headquarters, Mukherjee said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stopped the BJP in its tracks in West Bengal and she was the most credible secular leader in the country.

“Mamata Banerjee brought the BJP to a grinding halt in West Bengal. Didi is the most credible secular leader in the country, who can rise against the communal BJP and defeat them. I am confident of pushing back the BJP across the country in future,” said Mukherjee.

The two-time Congress MP from Jangipur constituency in Murshidabad said although he was in talks with the TMC supremo and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee before the Assembly elections, he chose to join the TMC after the polls to ensure that no one can allege that he joined party hoping for some posts.

“I am least bothered about posts. I did not have any posts in Congress also. I have joined one Congress from another. I will work as a grassroots level worker and it is up to the party leadership to decide how they will use me,” said Mukherjee.

Earlier in the day, he had expressed his reservation against the Congress’ alliance with the Left Front in Bengal and said he repeatedly urged the leadership that the party should go alone in the Assembly elections, but no one paid heed to him.

“People accepted Mamata Banerjee’s leadership in the fight against the BJP, but they did not accept Congress’ alliance with the Left Front. The alliance was a mistake,” said Mukherjee.

Lashing out at the state Congress leadership, he said “the way Congress was being run in Bengal was unacceptable. “The Congress has a future. But unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi’s ideas are not being properly utilized,” he said.