Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee quits BJP

The exodus continues as Bengali film actor Srabanti Chatterjee, who had joined the BJP with a lot of hype before the Assembly polls, quit the party announcing that it lacks sincerity and initiatives to further the cause of Bengal.
In a tweet on Thursday the actor wrote: "Severing all ties with the BJP, the party for which I fought the last state elections. Reason being their lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of Bengal..." However, the actor didn't make it clear whether she would join the Trinamool Congress.

The 34-year-old actor had been maintaining a distance from the saffron party after it failed to unseat Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool-led government from power despite a high-pitched campaign. After that, a disillusioned Srabanti decided to keep away from all the activities of the party.

Srabanti, who was once close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress, joined the BJP ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections in March, and was given the ticket to contest from Behala Paschim. She, however, lost to former state school education minister and Trinamool heavyweight Partha Chatterjee by over 50,000 votes.

"I really don't know whether she was with the party after the elections. It won't have an impact on the party," said West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar.

Echoing him, BJP leader Tathagata Roy, who has been training his guns on the party top brass for the election debacle, called Srabanti's quitting the party a "good riddance".

Roy had criticised the BJP for inducting people with no political background, especially those from the entertainment world, and said, "Good riddance. I don't recall if she had any meaningful contributions in all the days," the former Meghalaya and Tripura governor said - IANS