I was in Delhi, hence could not attend BJP's mega rally: Arjun Singh

Kolkata, May 2 Hours after his absence from BJP's mega rally in Kolkata on Monday created ripples in the political circles of West Bengal, Arjun Singh, BJP's heavyweight Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore, returned to Kolkata from New Delhi and explained the reasons behind his nonappearance in the rally.

"I was in New Delhi for a meeting with Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal on jute price capping. The previous meeting was not that positive. But now it seems that the process is taking a positive turn. My absence from the rally had nothing to do with the speculations about me distancing myself from the BJP.

"I had a meeting with the Union Textiles Minister for which I could not attend the rally. The party's top leadership is aware of it," Singh told mediapersons late on Monday evening at the Kolkata airport.

Incidentally, Singh had met Goyal on April 30 as well and even posted a picture of the meeting on social media. While many thoguht Singh's differences with the Textiles Ministry over jute price capping was over, speculations were rife about Singh deserting the party after his absence from the rally on Moonday, which was attended by all senior BJP leaders, including MPs and MLAs, from the state.

Last year on this day, the results of the Assembly elections were declared, in which Trinamool Congress was voted to power for the third consecutive term.

The state BJP chose this date to organise the protest rally, which the saffron camp described as the "first anniversary of deteriorating law & order situation, rape of women, corruption and post-poll violence".

Singh was a four-time Trinamool Congress legislator from Bhatpara Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district. However, before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he left the Trinamool and joined the BJP.

He contested from Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 and got elected by defeating Trinamool candidate Dinesh Trivedi by a margin of around 15,000 votes.