On Darj visit, Mukul says time will tell all

SNS Bagdogra/Darjeeling, 30 October, 2015: On what he called a personal tour of Darjeeling and Dooars, former all India general secretary of the Trinamul Congress Mukul Roy on Thursday said he is still the TMC MP and that only time will tell what he will be in the near future. He also did not rule out the possibility of him floating a new political party.

Roy, who has been sidelined in the party, said the visit here was personal.

Suspended Trinamul MLA of Barackpore Shilbhadra Dutta and others accompanied him, while a group of people, including a member of the BJP, Harisadhan Ghosh, reached the Bagdogra airport to greet Roy on Thursday.

"I have said nothing so far about forming a new political party. I have neither been expelled nor thrown out of the party. I am still a member of Parliament. I have been involved in politics for a long time here, and I share a good relationship with the people in the Hills and the Plains. I have come to north Bengal after almost a year, but all this while, I had been wanting to visit Darjeeling and talk to the people there," Roy told reporters at the airport.

"As I am a man of religion who respects other religions, I will visit Mahakal temple in Darjeeling to offer my prayers there. However I will not stay in Darjeeling on Thursday. I will head for the Dooars," he added.

The Rajya Sabha MP also said he had no plans to meet Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) chief Bimal Gurung and other Hill leaders.

"Till now, nothing has been fixed," Roy said. MLA Dutta was suspended in June after he attended an Iftar party with Roy.

Political observers feel Roy's visit is significant ahead of the Assembly polls. "He had been visiting the region on several occasions for party activities and he is a known face.

He has an idea about the present political situation in the Darjeeling Hills and the Plains. It may be that he is nurturing his contacts and loyalists as it is important if he floats a new party," an observer said.

Harisadhan Ghosh, the former deputy mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (between 1997 and 2004), had joined Trinamul on 4 July, 2013 from the CPI in Siliguri in the presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and with the initiative of Roy. The veteran leader, however, quit the party in March, citing his disappointment with the way the party had 'insulted' Roy. Ghosh is now with the BJP.

"I know Roy for a long time, and that is why I came here. It has no other issue," he said. N Darjeeling, Roy offered prayers at the Mahakal Temple at Chowrastha.

While sources close to Roy had earlier said that he is likely to float a new political party in November, he on Thursday said November is the month of revolution. "It is the month of November that witnessed the Russian Revolution, the Nandi gram movement, Netaji's antordhan (disappearance) and the likes. The month of November holds significance in the political scenario and thus it is significant," Roy said in Darjeeling. Speaking to the Press after offering prayers at Mahakal Mandir, he said, "I have not decided anything regarding the new political outfit. However, I am aware that there are some people in Bengal who will soon float a new political outfit." "My only purpose in visiting Darjeeling today is to offer prayers at Mahakal Mandir," he added.