TMC rebel Dipendu Biswas writes apology letter to Mamata, says ‘joining BJP was bad decision’
Kolkata, May 31: With the TMC having emerged victorious with a thumping majority in the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections, turncoats who had quit the party to join the BJP seem to be making a beeline for re-entry into the Mamata Banerjee camp, the latest being Dipendu Biswas.
Biswas, who had switched sides after his name did not feature in the TMC's candidate list for the assembly polls, has expressed his desire to return to the ruling party in the state.
Claiming that it was a mistake on his part to have joined the BJP, he apologised to the TMC supremo.
In a letter written in Bengali to the chief minister, the footballer-turned-politician on Monday said he wanted to take the TMC flag again from the party's general secretary Subrata Baksi.
Biswas was elected from Basirhat Dakshin assembly seat in the 2016 elections on a TMC ticket and quit the party after he was denied the poll ticket this year.
Speaking to reporters, he regretted his "wrong decision" to join the saffron camp and said it was "taken in a moment of depression".
"I want to join the TMC again and will help the party supremo make further progress in the state," the former Basirhat Dakshin MLA said.
Banerjee's former aide, Sonali Guha, and other turncoats Sarala Murmu and Amal Acharya, who had joined the BJP before the state assembly elections, have also expressed their desire to return to the ruling party.
Former TMC MLA Sonali Guha had on May 23 written to Banerjee, apologising to her for leaving the party.
The four-time legislator from Satgachhia in South 24 Parganas district, in a letter which she had also shared on social media, said, "The way a fish cannot stay out of the water, I will not be able to live without you, 'Didi'.
"I seek your forgiveness and if you don't forgive me, I won't be able to live. Please allow me to come back, and spend the rest of my life in your affection."
Murmu had switched camp as she was reportedly unhappy with the ticket that was given to her by the ruling party.
She was nominated from Habibpur seat in Malda, but party sources had then claimed that she was keen on contesting the election from Maldaha constituency.
Acharya, the former MLA from Itahar in Uttar Dinajpur, had also joined the BJP just two weeks before the elections after being denied a ticket by the TMC.
The Trinamool Congress romped home in Bengal, pocketing 213 of the 292 assembly seats that went to polls and secured a third straight term in office.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party's main challenger, the BJP, bagged 77 seats, while the ISF, which contested with the symbol of the Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party, and an Independent, managed one seat each.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
