TMC MLA Sovan Chatterjee likely to join BJP this week

Kolkata: Former Kolkata mayor and Trinamool Congress MLA Sovan Chatterjee is likely to join the BJP by the end of this week in New Delhi, sources said on Wednesday.

Chatterjee was asked to step down both as a minister in the TMC government and as Kolkata mayor by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in November last year following troubles in his personal life. After that, he took a sabbatical from active politics. According to sources, Chatterjee was in touch with the BJP for the last few months.

He met BJP leaders in New Delhi last month fuelling speculations that he might switch over to the saffron camp. "If everything goes well, he is likely to join the BJP either today or by the end of this week. Let's see what happens," a top BJP source told PTI. After its shock result in the Lok Sabha polls, the ruling TMC tried to woo Chatterjee, who is known for his organisational capabilities.

But the efforts didn't yield a positive result. Six TMC MLAs and one each of Congress and CPI(M) have switched over to BJP since the results of Lok Sabha polls were announced. The BJP has made deep inroads in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls by winning 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, just four less than TMC.