In a surprising move, firebrand TMC MP in the Lok Sabha and one of the strongest supporters of Mamata Banerjee and fiercest critics of the BJP, Saayoni Ghosh has reportedly joined the Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar-led rebel MPs, who have extended support to the BJP-led NDA.
According to multiple reports, Ghosh is believed to have reached out to Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and pledged her support to the rebel camp.
Although Ghosh is yet to confirm the development, reports have suggested that she has already chosen her side.
This comes as major blow to TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee, who is struggling to stabilise the party amid a string of high-profile exits and rebellion.
Who is Saayoni Ghosh?
Ghosh, an actor-turned politician, is the TMC MP from Jadavpur. She was among the prominent faces of the Trinamool Congress, alongside Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee, in Parliament.
Ghosh has been one of the fiercest critics of the BJP, often taking digs at the party inside and outside the House.
After AAP leader Raghav Chadha’s defection to the BJP, Ghosh had taken a dig at the former AAP MP, saying, “She is not Chadha. Chadha can become Chaddi, Saayoni can’t.”
Even during the Assembly election campaign, Ghosh aggressively campaigned for the party and remained with Mamata even after TMC’s defeat.
After the results, she had said that Mamata was not defeated by the people of the state but that she lost due to the “vote theft”.
“We have not lost, but Mamata Banerjee has been defeated by stealing and looting of votes. In 2029, the people of Bengal, the people of the entire country, and in 2031, the mothers, land, and people of West Bengal will give a befitting reply,” she had said.
The development comes amid the ongoing rebellion within the TMC. A group of 20 rebel MPs, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, conveying to him their decision to support the NDA.
They have also reportedly requested him to recognise them as a separate bloc and make sitting arrangements in the House accordingly.
However, Team Mamata has claimed that the rebel camp doesn’t have the numbers to engineer a split. They need at least 19 of the 28 TMC MPs to avoid expulsion under anti-defection laws.