Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit joins TMC

Kolkata, July 05: Former President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee, who is a former Congress MP from West Bengal, has joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The former Jangipur MP was in talks with the TMC leadership for the past few weeks. The development comes following speculation of Mukherjee joining TMC after he met chief minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata last month.

This is seen as a massive setback for the Congress party, in West Bengal, which has reportedly witnessed a widening rift between senior party leadership and unit and party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

"The Pradesh (state) Congress was not utilising me in any manner... I was being bypassed for every political programme... Therefore, I have joined TMC as a soldier and will work accordingly with the party's instructions. I will work to maintain integrity and secularism," Abhijit said after joining TMC.

"The way Mamata Banerjee halted the recent communal wave by BJP, I believe that in the future, with the support of others, she would be able to do the same in the entire country," he added.

Notably, Abhijit had backed Mamata Banerjee during the fake vaccination row in Kolkata.

"If Didi Mamata Banerjee is to be blamed personally for a fake vaccination camp by an impersonating IAS Officer Debanjan Deb, then surely ModiJi is to blamed for all the scams by Nirav Modi,Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi etc. So no point blaming the Govt of WB for an individual act", he tweeted in solidarity with Mamata.

When asked about his sister Sharmistha, who is with Congress, Abhijit said, "Sharmistha is an free and individual entity... She is capable and entitled to her own decisions."

Reportedly, Mukherjee had good relations with Jitin Prasada, who recently joined the BJP, when they were colleagues in the Congress Parliamentary Party, and the Late President was also known to be fond of him and his father Jitendra Prasada.

Abhijit Mukherjee, an engineer-turned politician has won twice from Jangipur constituency.