In a major setback for West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, several Bengali actors, including Parno Mittra, joined the BJP in Delhi on Thursday. As many as 12 Bengali TV actors joined the saffron party in presence of party leaders, including its West Bengal unit head Dilip Ghosh and senior functionary Mukul Roy.
"It is risky to join the BJP in Bengal these days," said BJP's Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh and accuse the state's ruling Trinamool Congress of "harassing" those who join the BJP.
Ghosh further added, this is why the BJP organises joining ceremonies for personalities from West Bengal outside the state and these actors deserve credit for their "courage".
"We bow to their courage, that in these circumstances they can even think of joining us," Ghosh said.
The new joiners are--Rishi Kaushik, Parno Mitra, Kanchana Moitra, Rupanjana Mitra, Biswajit Ganguly, Deb Ranjan Nag, Arindam Halder, Moumita Gupta, Anindya Banerjee, Sourav Chakravorty, Rupa Bhattacharya, Anjana Basu and Kaushik Chakraborty - are well-known faces in the world of Bengali TV series and films.
BJP leaders Rahul Sinha and Sambit Patra were also present as the actors were inducted into the party.
Ghosh alleged that many councillors who had quit the TMC to join the BJP are being harassed, adding that 17 municipal council members from Darjeeling have not been able to visit their homes after joining his party. Some others have been "forced" to rejoin the TMC, he claimed.
The BJP is eyeing to wrest power from the Trinamool Congress in the state and has emerged as the main opponent of the Mamata Banerjee-led party. The saffron party won 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.
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