Tribal couple who hosted BJP chief Amit Shah joins Trinamool Congress

KOLKATA: In seven days of BJP’s national president Amit Shah visiting her house and having lunch there, Gita Mahali and her husband Raju Mahali, a tribal couple of Naxalbari area in north Bengal joined Trinamool Congress.

The Mahali couple used to be known as active BJP workers in the area and they were given the responsibility to welcome Amit Shah in Naxalbari area on April 25. From Naxalbari, Shah kicked off BJP’s Vistar yatra.

Few days after Shah left the area, Mahali couple along with their two kids went missing which prompted the local BJP leadership to lodge missing complaint with Naxalbari police station. In the morning today, the couple appeared at the village, surrounded by Trinamool leaders. Trinamool’s in charge of north Bengal and a minister from the region, Gautam Deb later came to their house and in presence of Deb, the couple joined Trinamool Congress.

BJP’s state president Dilip Ghosh condemned the incident and said, the ruling party in Bengal has set a precedence of ‘ugly’ politics. “They were threatened and later abducted by Trinamool Congress. They were forced to join Trinamool Congress almost at gun point. They are very poor tribal villagers. When Amit Shah ji was scheduled to visit the village, this family volunteered to welcome him. That was their fault. They were kidnapped along with kids and tortured by the ruling party,” added Ghosh.

TMC leader Gautam Deb however said that it was ‘immaterial’ what BJP said. “The tribal family wanted to join TMC to become a part of the development process in Bengal,” said Deb.