West Bengal: Mithun Chakraborty officially joins BJP at PM Modi's Kolkata rally
Actor Mithun Chakraborty ended all speculation on Sunday and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the PM rally which is scheduled to start at 2 pm.
FollowAs the race to the polls heats up, PM Modi is all set to address a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday - touted by BJP to be one of the biggest rallies witnessed till date.
Actor Mithun Chakraborty ended all speculation on Sunday and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the PM rally which is scheduled to start at 2 pm.
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya met Chakraborty on Saturday evening at his Kolkata residence and announced that the actor will attend PM Modi's rally. He was present on stage with Chakraborty on Sunday.
"I have spoken with him (Mithun Chakraborty) over the telephone, he's going to come today (to the rally). I will be able to make a comment only after a detailed discussion with him," said Vijayvargiya.
Earlier, the state BJP vice president Arjun Singh had said that people of the state will be happy if the actor shares a stage with the prime minister.
"If he joins, it will be good for both the party and the state. And if he shares the stage with PM Modi, then the people of Bengal will be happy," Singh had said, reported Hindustan Times.
Chakraborty has been a successful actor and was even sent to the Rajya Sabha by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2014 after it stormed to power in the state in 2011. His political sting was, however, short-lived, as Chakraborty resigned citing health reasons in 2016.
Visuals tweeted by news agency ANI showed a decent crowd at Brigade Parade Ground. The BJP has claimed that 10 lakh people will attend PM Modi's rally.
The Prime Minister will be addressing the mega poll rally as West Bengal heads for an eight-phase assembly election starting March 27. This is one of his many rallies planned by the BJP which is aiming to utilise PM Modi's star power to intensify its campaign against the TMC.
