I would like to get back to my slot in Bengal BJP: Tathagata Roy

NEW DELHI: Former Meghalaya governor and BJP leader Tathagata Roy is keen to start his second innings in politics from West Bengal. Roy, 74, will be reaching Kolkata over the weekend where he will meet party leaders to discuss his role in the new set up. He may also speak with the senior party leadership in Delhi regarding future plans.

“I didn’t want to become governor. But the party decided and I had to follow that. Now, when it is over, I would like to get back to my slot,” Roy told ET.

On the 2021 assembly elections in Bengal, Roy said BJP stands a very good chance. “The politics of West Bengal is always so polarised that a third or fourth party practically has no chance,” he said. “CPM has been tried out and rejected. The party will not get even 1% of the votes this time. Congress is a leaderless party and is extremely confused. So the fight is between Trinamool and the BJP.”


According to Roy, the situation in the state is polarised in favour of BJP and the Lok Sabha results were a good indication.

Roy was West Bengal BJP president from 2002 to 2006. He was in the BJP national executive till 2015, when he became governor of Tripura. On social media, he describes himself as a right-wing Hindu socio-political thinker, writer and ideologue.

He accused the Mamata Banerjee government of pandering to the minorities. “This is a huge issue in the state and it is absolutely hated by most people,” he said.

Roy’s return has fueled speculations that he will be BJP’s face in the assembly polls. “This is something to be decided by my party colleagues in the state, as well as the Centre,” Roy said.