Do not need an invitation to join BJP, says Dinesh Trivedi

Dinesh Trivedi said that BJP must have done something right for the country because everywhere people have accepted them.

Dinesh Trivedi who was one of the prominent members of Trinamool Congress (TMC), resigned from Rajya Sabha seat on Friday citing "violence in the state." Ahead of assembly polls in West Bengal, an exodus of members of TMC to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken place lately that increased speculation of Mr Trivedi too joining the rival party.

Mr Trivedi said in an interview to NDTV that PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have been his great friends for many years and he does not need an invitation to join the party. He also said that there is nothing wrong if he joins BJP. "If they (BJP) are welcoming me, which I heard, I am grateful to them. If everywhere people have accepted them, then they are doing something right for the country," he added.

Mr Trivedi also criticized the party's decision to hire a poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his outfit I-PAC. "We formed the party (Trinamool) together. Mamata Banerjee, Ajit Panja, Mukul Roy, myself. That was the soul of the party. We even struggled for 5,000 to 7,000 to 10,000 to buy a ticket to go to Delhi. Today that soul, that aatma is gone. If you give 100 crores to a consultant...On one hand you say you are a poor party and on the other, you give hundreds of crores to a consultant," he said.

Mr Trivedi accused I-PAC of becoming "owners of the party" and remarked that Mamata Banerjee did not need any 'consultant' to defeat the Left Front government who ruled the state for 34 long years. Answering about the communication gap that has resulted in the fall out, "She also knew I don't support this kind of culture...But there was no opportunity to talk. For example on the kisan (farmer protests) - I don't think five of us got together and said ok, what should be done...It was just go to the well of the house...so everybody went to the well of the house. That's not the way," he said hinting at the opposition parties who had trooped into the Well to protest against the farm laws in the Parliament.

He showed resentment at the way the party had been functioning. "In politics you cannot be a boss and a karamchari (worker). She always says I want to keep our head up. We don't want to keep our heads down...we also need to keep our head up. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high...If the mind is full of fear and the head is in the gutter, then that's not Rabindranath Tagore's culture? My head, like hers, has been held high, but not with ego..."

Earlier, Suvendu Adhikari, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee had also left TMC and joined BJP following which several members left the party. Rajib Banerjee and Sunil Mondal had also joined BJP.