Kolkata, May 22 (IANS) Sonali Guha, the turncoat Trinamool Congress leader, who switched to the saffron camp just before the Assembly polls in West Bengal, has written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressing her willingness to return to her old party.
Guha left Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP after she was denied a ticket to contest the polls.
Guha said that she had left the party out of extreme emotion and in a fit of temper, but now she has realised that she has made a huge mistake.
In an emotional tweet in Bengali addressed to the Chief Minister, the former Trinamool MLA wrote, “‘Sekhane nijeke maniye nite parini. Mach jemon jol chara thakte pare na, temoni ami apnake chara banchte parbo na. Didi ami khomaprathri, daya kore amake khoma kore din. Apni na khoma kore ami bancho na’ (I could not fit myself there (BJP). The way a fish cannot stay out of water, I will not be able to live without you. Didi, I seek your forgiveness. If you don’t pardon me, I won’t be able to live).”
Expressing her willingness to return to the Trinamool fold again, the former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly wrote, “‘Apnar aanchaler tolae amake tene niye baki jibonta amake apnar snehatole thakar sujog kore din’ (Take me under your fold and allow me to live the rest of my life under your guidance and blessings).”
Though there was no official reaction from the Trinamool Congress on Guha’s tweet, senior party leaders are not in favour of taking her back into the party.
“Mamata Banerjee gave her everything, but what did she do? She deserted her (Banerjee) and the Trinamool just before the elections when the party needed her the most. If she comes back to the party, it will send out a wrong signal to our workers and all the people who had left the party and joined the BJP before the polls,” a senior Trinamool leader said.
Guha, a four-time MLA and once considered to be the ‘shadow’ of Chief Minister Banerjee, was among the slew of Trinamool leaders who jumped ship to the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.
Guha had won from Bishnupur in South 24 Parganas district in 2016 and became the Deputy Speaker, but she was denied ticket this time.
Guha did not fight the elections this time, but had said that she would work to strengthen the BJP.
When contacted, Guha said that she felt “unwanted” in the saffron camp.
“My decision to join the BJP was a wrong one and I can feel that today. I did not bother to tell the BJP about leaving that party. I always felt unwanted there. They tried to use me and asked me to badmouth Mamata-di. I could not do that,” she said.
Guha also expressed her willingness to meet the Chief Minister next week and try to resolve the issue.