Who is Dinesh Trivedi, BJP's newest member?

The former Railway Minister and TMC's Rajya Sabha MP, Trivedi has realised his life's golden moment and joined BJP, shocking poll-bound West Bengal

Much to the disappointment of Trinamool Congress and its chief Mamata Banerjee, Dinesh Trivedi, another stellar name in the party, has left ahead of the coming polls to join its main rival, the BJP.

In what he called a 'golden moment' of his life, the former Railway Minister and TMC MP was welcomed to the BJP at a press conference attended by J P Nadda and Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan. Trivedi had announced his resignation from Rajya Sabha on February 12 on the floor of the House, saying he felt suffocated in the TMC, criticising the party for political violence in the state.

Here is a look at the political career of Trivedi, the latest addition to BJP's team in poll-bound Bengal.

Read | Golden moment: Ex-TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi joins BJP ahead of West Bengal polls

Political timeline: Trivedi, a man of several parties

While this came as a shock to ruling TMC, this is not the first time that Dinesh Trivedi has changed his political course. In the 1980s, Trivedi joined the Congress party, and then later switched to Janata Dal in 1990. Trivedi was a member of the Rajya Sabha from JD from 1990 to 1996 from Gujarat.

In 1998, Trivedi made the big leap by not only joining the TMC but also becoming its first general secretary. He was a member of the Upper House from 2002 to 2008 from West Bengal.

In 2009, Trivedi contested from Barrackpore and won a Lok Sabha seat. He joined the Cabinet as the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare in 2009. In 2011, after Mamata Banerjee quit as the railway minister to become the Chief Minister of West Bengal, he was elevated as the Cabinet Minister for Railways under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Trivedi failed to win a seat in 2019 elections, therefore, the TMC nominated him to the Rajya Sabha.

Railway Budget Controversy: Locking horns with Mamata

When Trivedi announced the Rail Budget in 2012, he had added an overall hike in passenger fares, ranging from 2 paise to 30 paise per kilometre due to safety and expansion of the Railways.

This move had upset the party's supremo, Mamata Banerjee, even if the general public, rail unions and industry groups lauded Trivedi's budget.

Mamata declared that she will not allow any hike in railway fares proposed by Trivedi and wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to dismiss Dinesh Trivedi as Minister of Railways and transfer the portfolio to Mukul Roy, another member of TMC who recently left to join BJP.

Read | TMC, BJP cross swords as West Bengal Assembly elections gather steam

Trivedi sought a written confirmation from Mamata Banerjee before resigning, as he received mixed messages from Sudeep Bandyopadhyay, the Leader of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party and Kalyan Banerjee, the chief whip of Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha.

Finally, Trivedi tendered his resignation in March 2012, clarifying that he resigned because TMC and Mamata asked him to resign, but that he believed that neither PM nor Congress was requesting his resignation.

Golden moment of his life: Joining BJP

While joining BJP, Trivedi said for some, family is supreme in politics but for the BJP, people are supreme. He also said international communities have started taking India more seriously following the Narendra Modi-led government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Welcoming Trivedi into the party, Nadda said he is a "principled person" who was earlier a "right person in the wrong party" and was "now in the right party".