I Felt Suffocated Within Trinamool as It’s a One-Man Party: Mukul Roy

Kolkata: Former Trinamool Congress heavyweight Mukul Roy, who has switched over to the BJP, on Monday claimed he felt suffocated due to the lack of democracy in his former party and accused it of shrinking the political space in the state like never before.

"This (Trinamool) is a one-man party. None of the party ministers or MLAs can say with hands on their heart that they are free to convey their opinions. I am against one-man parties anywhere in India. Be it Congress, Mayawati's party or AIADMK. I felt suffocated within the party (Trinamool)," he said during an interview with a television news channel ABP Ananda.

"During the Left Front rule (in the state from 1977 to 2011), they did not conduct a free and fair election process but at least they allowed the opposition to do politics. But under this government, the opposition parties are not permitted to even hold rallies or meetings.

"Be it the Left, Congress or BJP - no one is given permission for holding political events. That is how much the political space has shrunk under this government," alleged Roy, who was formally included in the BJP three days back in Delhi.

The Trinamool founding member also accused the Bengal government of conducting "a police-raj" in the state in the name of administration. "There is no administration in Bengal. Police-raj is going on. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is being reshuffled to slap fake cases on political leaders. It is all being done in the name of the administration," he said.

Roy alleged that the states' ruling party has taken the rivalry with the centre's ruling party BJP to such a level that the federal structure was being affected, leading to the suffering of the people. He also claimed by vehemently opposing BJP since the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Trinamool is ignoring the popular opinion that gave BJP undisputed majority in the country and chose Narendra Modi as the country's Prime Minister. "There can be political rivalry between two parties without hampering the federal structure. But opposition should not be taken to a limit where the state has to suffer, the people have to suffer and popular opinion is ignored," Roy said.

He also claimed that the Trinamool leadership has no aspirations to spread the party's influence beyond Bengal and their frequent change of stance about their main political rival has wiped it out from a few states. "The party leadership has not tried to spread the party's influence outside Bengal. I tried my best but it is a collective game. These things cannot be achieved individually. Where is Trinamool's presence in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujrat, or Tripura? They have no presence anywhere outside Bengal," Roy said.

"The main source of strength has been opposing the left. But now they are secretly tying up with the CPI-M for the compulsion of national politics. This has destroyed Trinamool's presence in states like Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh," he added.

IANS