Calcutta, Sept. 19: Congress veteran Manas Bhuniya today joined Trinamul, capping a two-month tussle with his party.

The former state Congress president walked into the Trinamul headquarters in Calcutta this afternoon and held a joint news conference with Trinamul Youth Congress vice-president Abhishek Banerjee and party secretary-general Partha Chatterjee.

Former Congress legislature party leader Mohammad Sohrab - who lost the Assembly elections after the CPM put up a candidate against him in Murshidabad - too joined Trinamul today.

Along with Sohrab and Bhuniya today, there were other Congress leaders considered close to the Sabang MLA.

Bhuniya's wife Geeta Bhuniya, an AICC member, also joined the ruling party.

"Our old friend Manas, who has held many posts like that of the PCC chief, state cabinet minister, Congress legislature party leader and currently the public accounts committee chairman, is joining Mamata Banerjee today. We welcome him to the party on behalf of Mamata Banerjee. Even he thinks Trinamul is the real Congress in Bengal," said Chatterjee.

After Chatterjee spoke, the mike was passed on to Bhuniya, despite Trinamul leaders such as Abhishek and party national vice-president Mukul Roy being present.#Responding to questions on what made him join Trinamul, Bhuniya said: "I am a Trinamul worker and my new party will decide my future.

Bhuniya, a six-time MLA from Sabang, has been at loggerheads with state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury and leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan since July.

Sources said Bhuniya's tussle with the state Congress leadership began when the party made Mannan the leader of the Opposition, despite he being the senior-most Congress MLA and former state party unit chief.

The tussle intensified into war of words after Bhuniya refused to step down as chairman of the standing committee on public accounts despite opposition from within the Congress, which had offered the post to CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty.

State Congress chief Chowdhury said: "Trinamul is using intimidation and financial baits to get leaders from other parties.... But I don't know how he fell victim to such tricks. If he wanted to remain the PAC chairman, he just needed to write a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, but he didn't. His joining Trinamul was just a matter of time." Asked if he would resign as the MLA from Sabang, Bhuniya said it was for Trinamul to decide. "The party will decide on everything now. I am no more than a Trinamul worker now," he added.

Chatterjee said Bhuniya's defection had left the Congress with only Chowdhury and Mannan as senior leaders.

Referring to the recent defections of Congress leaders and workers to Trinamul, Bhuniya said that Bidhan Bhavan, the state Congress headquarters in Calcutta, was now "a haunted house" that Congress loyalists were evacuating in fear.

Bhuniya's defection brought to an end his 46-year-long association with the Congress.

"Politics is like a flowing river and not stagnant like a pond. There is no vindictiveness in politics, only competitiveness. Sometimes, unfortunate things happen in politics but nothing is constant. We move on," he said.