Is it true that BJP old guard Subramanian Swamy joining TMC?

Ground Report | New Delhi: Subramanian Swamy joining TMC; BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday praised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, comparing her to political stalwarts such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, Chandrashekhar, and PV Narasimha Rao. He tweeted that he “meant and meant what he said”. “It is a rare quality in Indian politics,” he said.

The meeting took place around 3.30 pm at the official residence of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Delhi. Incidentally, Swamy was in Kolkata on Tuesday where he met West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

After meeting Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday the trio - retired diplomat and former Janata Dal-United MP Pavan Varma; Kirti Azad, retired cricketer and former BJP MP; Former Congressman Ashok Tanwar - It was Dr. Swamy's turn to invite Didi to her nephew Abhishek Banerjee's Delhi home on Wednesday, prompting speculation that she would join the TMC.

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Swamy, however, denied speculations of joining the ruling party of Bengal. “I was already with her (Mamata). There is no need for me to join the party." (Subramanian Swamy joining TMC)

The inclusion of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi among politicians "who meant what he said and meant" is also surprising as he has been a firebrand critic of the Nehru-Gandhi, the first family of Congress.

Swamy has been openly critical of the Modi government's foreign and economic policies, especially on issues such as demonetisation and its reaction to China's aggression on the disputed border with India.

He met Banerjee a day after meeting his staunch critic and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.

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Dhankhar had several rounds of war of words with the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal. He criticized Banerjee's government on Twitter for "failing" to stop political violence in West Bengal after the Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP in the state assembly elections earlier this year. The BJP had alleged that the political violence perpetrated by the Trinamool Congress after winning the assembly elections in West Bengal has targeted Hindus in the state.

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