Veteran journalist-politician Chandan Mitra quits BJP

New Delhi, July 18

Veteran journalist-politician Chandan Mitra has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party amid speculations that he is likely to join rival Trinamool Congress.

Mitra, a former Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and the editor and managing director of 'The Pioneer', confirmed to ANI he had quit the BJP, but was unwilling to discuss his future plans.

“Yes, I have resigned. I have not decided when or where I will join, I am not going to disclose it,” Mitra said on Wednesday.

The senior journalist, previously a prominent BJP figure and considered close to BJP veteran LK Advani, was reportedly miffed at the top BJP leadership, primarily Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, for having been sidelined. 

Reports however continue to talk about his possible plans, with some even saying he will join the TMC on Shahid Divas, a day the TMC marks on July 21 to commemorate the killing of youth Congress workers in police action ordered under the rival Left regime in 1993.

Mitra has been vocally critical of the BJP lately.  When BJP lost the Kairana seat in May, reports quoted him as saying that the party ignored the interests of sugarcane farmers.

Mitra was a nominated Rajya Sabha member from August 2003 to 2009, before the BJP had him elected into the upper house from Madhya Pradesh. His term in Rajya Sabha ended in 2016. Agencies