tmc-leader-arjun-singh-asserts-state-irrigation-minister-partha-bhowmick-s-involvement-in-sandeshkhali-incident

Trinamool Congress leader Arjun Singh who on Thursday confirmed his return to the Bharatiya Janata Party used the Sandeshkhali issue against the TMC government of West Bengal.

He asserted that Shahjahan Sheikh bought large tracts of land and other properties in Naihati, North 24 Parganas district, under the patronage of local TMC MLA Partha Bhowmick.

Besides being the sitting legislator from Naihati, which falls under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency and is part of North 24 Parganas district housing Sandeshkhali, Bhowmick is also the state irrigation minister and the chosen Trinamool candidate Singh intends to take on at Barrackpore armed with a BJP ticket.

Singh and another top TMC leader is travelling to Delhi on Thursday evening to join the BJP at its central headquarters on Friday.

While giving an interview to media at his Barrackpore residence, Singh questioned why the TMC top brass sent Bhowmick, instead of the local MLA, to Sandeshkhali amid the protests?

In reply to this, he himself said, “Bhowmick had close contacts with Sandeshkhali primary accused and was sent there to secure the evidence connecting him to Shahjahan in the wake of the ED raid.” Singh even said, “Not just Shahjahan but his associates Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar too bought plots and other properties in Naihati.”

Singh hailed Bhowmick as the second-in-command in Naihati after Jyotipriya Mallick who is now in jail for his alleged connection in the ration scam case.

“There must be a proper investigation into his possible involvement in patronising the culprits of Sandeshkhali,” Singh added.

Bhowmick, on the other hand, has refuted Singh’s claim and said, “I went there to address certain complaints with regards to irrigation facilities. I was accompanied by local MLA Sukumar Mahata.”

Bhowmick, further, said: “The party knows that Singh would defect to the BJP ahead of the 2026 assembly election, so why would we give him a Lok Sabha ticket.”

In response to this, Singh said: “I rejoined the TMC in 2022 because I was promised the MP candidature from Barrackpore. But the party betrayed me. So now I will go back to the BJP.”