“Narendra Modi has always inspired me”: Arjun Singh jumps ships and joins BJP along with Dibyendu Adhikari

​Former Trinamool Congress leaders Arjun Singh and Dibyendu Adhikari on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Party headquarters in Delhi. Disgruntled by being denied a Trinamool Congress ticket to contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Arjun Singh, the MP from Barrackpore had tendered his resignation to the party and conveyed that he would be joining the saffron party to prevent his constituency from becoming “another Sandeshkhali.” 

“The TMC government wants to just stay in power with the help of Police and goons. We saw its most recent example in Sandeshkhali. There is not just one Sandeskhali, people in the border areas of Bengal are living in conditions similar to that of Sandeshkhali. The CM of West Bengal failed to help the mother and the sisters of Sandeshkhali, and the BJP leaders were their saving grace,” said Arjun Singh after he joined the saffron party. Singh further stated that the life and works of PM Narendra Modi have always inspired him and prompted him to join the BJP. 

The incumbent Tamluk MP and the brother of West Bengal leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Dibyendu Adhikari also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party along with Arjun Singh. “Today happens to be a very auspicious day, inspired by the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I have joined the BJP in a bid to avenge the injustices committed against the women of Sandeshkhali and to ensure the growth and development of the people of Bengal,” said Adhikari.  

A former Trinamool Congress leader, Singh had quit the party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and won the Barrackpore seat on a BJP ticket. He switched back to Trinamool Congress in May 2022. After Trinamool Congress had announced its candidature on March 10, Arjun Singh had openly protested against being denied a ticket by the party. Days ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Singh once again jumped ships and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday.