He was elected from Jangipur Lok Sabha seat twice
Congress leader and son of former President Pranab Mukherjee Abhijit Mukherjee on Monday joined the Trinamool Congress in the presence of party’s leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay and party’s secretary general Partha Chatterjee at the party headquarters in Kolkata.
Mr. Mukherjee said, “Mamata Banerjee has successfully resisted the communal BJP in West Bengal and it has been appreciated across the political spectrum, including by many veteran Congress leaders. I personally feel that since she has been able to defeat the BJP in West Bengal, she along with other forces, can also defeat the BJP nationally”.
Mr. Mukherjee, who was elected from the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat twice, started his political career in 2011 when he contested from the Nalhati Assembly seat on the Congress ticket. In 2012, when the Jangipur seat fell vacant after Pranab Mukherjee was appointed the President, Mr. Mukherjee was elected from the seat in a bypoll. He was elected again from Jangipur in 2014 but lost the seat in 2019.
“I have prefixes of ‘former’ associated with my name- former MP, former MLA, and will take up whatever opportunity the party provides,” the 61-year-old politician said. Differences between him and the State Congress leadership had surfaced, particularly on the idea that the Congress should have fought the recent State polls on its own and not in an alliance with Left parties.
Welcoming Mr. Mukherjee into the Trinamool Congress, Mr. Partha Chatterjee said the decision had been taken as per the directions of party chairperson Mamata Banerjee. He reflected on how Pranab Mukherjee was a guide and mentor to all those from the State, and expressed the hope that the TMC would be able to utilise the abilities of Mr. Abhijit Mukherjee.
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