Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee on Thursday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The 34-year-old actor had joined the saffron party ahead of the assembly polls this year. She had unsuccessfully contested against TMC's Partha Chatterjee.
She cited the saffron party's 'lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of West Bengal' as her reason for severing ties with the BJP. Chatterjee has been maintaining a distance from the BJP after it failed to unseat Mamata Banerjee's government from power.
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"Severing all ties with the BJP, the party for which I fought the last state elections. Reason being their lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of Bengal," Chatterjee tweeted. The West Bengal BJP, however, did not attach much importance to Chatterjee's decision and asserted that "it would hardly impact the party". "I really don't know whether she was with the party after the elections. It won't have an impact on the party," BJP state chief Sukanta Majumdar said.
Echoing him, BJP leader Tathagata Roy, who has been training his guns on the party top brass for the election debacle, called Chatterjee's quitting the party a "good riddance". Roy had criticised the BJP for inducting people with no political background, especially those from the entertainment world, and fielding them in the assembly elections while ignoring loyal and trusted party workers.
"Good riddance. I don't recall if she had any meaningful contributions in all the days," the former Meghalaya and Tripura governor said. Chatterjee, who was once close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, joined the BJP in March this year.
She was fielded in the Behala Paschim seat, where she was defeated by state minister Partha Chatterjee by over 50,000 votes.
The actor joins a long list of celebrities and leaders who have either quit the BJP or are maintaining a distance from the party after its defeat in the polls. -Times Of India
