Mukul Roy meets Mamata Banerjee at her residence

KOLKATA: Sidelined Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy held a closed-door meeting with party chief Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence on Friday evening, strengthen expectations that he will regain importance in the party soon.

It is now also expected that the once trusted lieutenant of Mamata will be working for the party in this year's assembly elections.

"Today is Trinamool's 18-th foundation day. I have gone to meet Mamata as she is the chairperson of our party and I am an elected MP of Trinamool Congress," Roy told media persons. Interestingly, the visit to the chief minister's Kalighat residence was his first in nine months.

Relations between Mamata and Roy deteriorated after the latter was interrogated by the CBI in connection with the probe into the Saradha chit fund scam. Roy was removed as the party’s all-India general secretary in February last year.

In the past one month, though, the two leaders have shown signs of improving relationship. Mamata invited him to a dinner in Delhi last month. Roy was also made a part of a party delegation that met Union Minority Development Minister Najma Heptullah in Delhi on December 17.

Political circles here started believing that Roy will be working for the party in the coming assembly elections even though he is not going to get back his lost portfolio in the party, which has been given to MP Subrata Bakshi.