Ex-Trinamool Leader Sovan Chatterjee Leads BJP Roadshow In Kolkata

The BJP's first roadshow in Kolkata on January 4 had turned into a bit of a flop show. The police had given it only truncated permission and the star of the roadshow Sovan Chatterjee failed to show up.

Mr Chatterjee is a former Trinamool leader who joined BJP in 2019.

But Mr Chatterjee is leading the road show today from Golpark to Salimpur in south Kolkata.

After waiting in the sidelines for over a year, Sovan Chatterjee was recently appointed BJP convenor for the Kolkata organizational zone and given charge of 51 crucial assembly seats in Kolkata and its suburbs. As a Trinamool leader, he was Kolkata's mayor and reputed to be a vote organizer.

His partner Baisakhi Banerjee, who is co-convenor of the Kolkata zone, is also present at the roadshow.

After the couple joined the BJP in August 2019, there was some trouble as they had disagreements about their exact role. But Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on one of his recent visits to Bengal, met them and ironed out the creases.

Mr Chatterjee is one of the dozen Trinamool leaders named in the Narada scam and Trinamool leaders privately say he was threatened to join the BJP or face action.

Sovan Chatterjee was very close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and one of the original Trinamool leaders who was not only mayor but also minister with multiple portfolios till he fell out. One of the reasons for the fall out was marital discord in the Chatterjee family. His wife Ratna is a party worker and her father a Trinamool MLA.