Another Cong leader Kirti Azad likely to join Trinamool

After Luizinho Falerio and Sushmita Dev, another Congress leader Kirti Azad is likely to abandon the party and join the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday in the presence of Mamata Banerjee here.

Sources close to Azad confirmed this development.

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Sources also said that Azad was feeling sidelined in the party and so decided to quit. The Congress leader fought the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket, but could not win. He was earlier with the BJP but left after differences with the leadership. Azad’s wife is also active in Delhi politics.

Azad, a former cricketer, is the son of late Bihar Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad.

Azad could be a prized catch for the Trinamool to expand its feet in Bihar, the neighbouring state of West Bengal.

The Trinamool Congress is becoming a new home for the disgruntled Congress leaders who are upset with the style of functioning of the top leadership.

The latest entrant could be Azad in the Trinamool club. Earlier Luizinho Faleiro, who was the former Chief Minister of Goa and close to Sonia Gandhi and was a working committee member of the party, joined Trinamool and was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Faleiro joined Trinamool on the heels of former Congresswomen wing president Sushmita Dev also joining Mamata’s party.

The Congress leaders, who are not finding a place in Rahul Gandhi’s setup, are leaving the party. Falerio’s exit will have an impact in the Goa elections as he was one of the MLAs in the five-member Congress legislative party.