Congress leader Kirti Azad will likely join the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday in New Delhi.
Azad, who switched from the BJP to the Congress in 2019, is reported to be upset with the Congress leadership, especially Rahul Gandhi. Azad believes that the only leader who can give sleepless nights to the Narendra Modi-led BJP is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is obviously the tiger in the first reference.
A cricketer-turned-politician, Azad was elected to Lok Sabha thrice from Darbhanga in Bihar. He had fought the 2014 general elections on a BJP ticket. In 2015, he was suspended from the BJP for openly targeting the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities and corruption in Delhi and District Cricket Association.
Azad’s father Bhagwat Jha Azad was a veteran Congress leader from Bihar who also served as chief minister of the state.
The development comes days after former Congress leaders Luizinho Faleiro in Goa and Sushmita Dev in Assam joined the TMC.
Meanwhile, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is also present in Delhi. Banerjee’s visit to the capital is taking place days ahead of the winter session of Parliament which is scheduled to begin on November 29. She will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to discuss issues pertaining to the Border Security Force (BSF) and the development of the state during her visit to Delhi.