Former Union Minister Babul Supriyo joined Trinamool Congress on Saturday, two months after he was asked to resign as junior minister in the Environment Ministry. The former BJP MP, a month after stepping down from the central post, had said he would not join any party and would quit politics. Later, he amended his plans and said he would remain a Member of Parliament.
Babul Supriyo is the fifth BJP leader – the four others were BJP MLAs – to join Trinamool Congress after Banerjee's party won the assembly election in May and retained power.
The former BJP leader was seen to be upset after he was made to quit as Union Minister in the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who refreshed the cabinet by appointing 43 new names in July.
"I'm surely sad for myself," Supriyo had tweeted on July 8, the day he resigned as Union Minister, and later deleted the post to replace with a new one that said he was "extremely happy" that he left the stint "without a spot of corruption on me".
