Veteran Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mukul Roy is back to the headlines as he is playing out a weird politics by hinting that he aspires to join BJP again, years after leaving the party. 69-year-old Mukul Roy is a notable politician and well-known for being one of the founding members of the TMC in West Bengal. Roy had been a close confidante of TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 

Initially, he was with TMC and then, he joined BJP. Years later, he quit BJP and joined TMC again and now, he has apparently expressed his desire to join BJP for the second time. While speaking to a Bengali news channel on Tuesday, Roy said that he wants to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Though he joined TMC, he went on to say that he is still a BJP legislator in West Bengal. 

Mukul Roy said, "I am a BJP legislator. I want to be with the BJP. The party has made arrangements for my stay here. I want to meet Amit Shah and speak to JP Nadda (BJP national president)." On Monday night, Mukul Roy travelled to New Delhi for 'some personal work' and his family claimed that he was 'missing'. Roy's family later accused the BJP of indulging in dirty politics in using Roy, who is not well and not in the right frame of mind. 

"I was not keeping well for quite some time, so I was away from politics. But right now, I am fine and would again be active in politics", Roy added. He further said that he is hundred per cent confident that he would never be associated with the TMC - this was a big hint that Roy would switch side. He went on to say that he wants his son Subharangshu to join the BJP as it would suit him best. 

Earlier on Monday, when Roy's family claimed that he was missing, his son Subharangshu had told PTI that his father was untraceable and missing. He cited that Roy is extremely unwell and suffers from dementia and Parkinson's disease. "My father is not in the right frame of mind. I would request everyone not to do politics with an unwell person. After he went missing, I had also filed a police complaint last night", Subharangshu added.

He also said that his father had undergone brain surgery last month and failed to recognize even family members and close associates. Following Mukul Roy's hint that he is still BJP's legislator, what put more weight behind the speculations on Roy is joining BJP again is BJP's national secretary Anupam Hazra's social media post that read "Comeback". 

Responding to these developments that whether Roy is quitting TMC, senior TMC leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay had accused BJP of indulging in dirty politics. Chattopadhyay said, "I have known Mukul Roy for the last several decades. He is so ill that he doesn't recognize people and cannot complete a sentence properly. Now, if the BJP wants to pursue politics by using an unwell person, we condemn such dirty politics." 

On the other hand, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has claimed that the party is not interested to welcome Mukul Roy back to the party. Adhikari, who himself joined BJP after quitting TMC, said that the BJP is not interested in inducting Roy back into the party. Another BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar said, "BJP is nowhere in this. Mukul Roy left our party due to his political ideology. Neither did he discuss with me or any other BJP leader before leaving for Delhi." 

After quitting from TMC, Mukul Roy joined BJP in 2017 in the wake of the soured relationship with TMC's chief Mamata Banerjee. He was made BJP's national vice president in 2020 and in the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, he contested in the Krishnanagar North Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket. Mukul Roy won the race by defeating the TMC's candidate with a margin of 35,089 votes. 

However, just a month after the assembly results were announced, Mukul Roy returned to TMC and accused the BJP of providing 'ill-treatment'. Mamata gave Roy a rousing welcome and though he joined TMC, he didn't resign as an MLA that he won from the BJP's ticket.