BJP’s Haldia MLA From Suvendu Adhikari's Home Turf Joins Trinamool Congress Ahead Of West Bengal Election

In a significant political development ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, two-time Haldia MLA Tapasi Mondal on Monday (10 March) formally joined the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), marking her second party switch in five years.

Mondal, who was earlier with the CPI(M) and then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was inducted into the TMC in Kolkata in the presence of state Power and Youth Affairs Minister Aroop Biswas, Indian Express reported.

Her departure is seen as a setback for the BJP in Purba Medinipur, particularly in Nandigram and Haldia — bastions of BJP’s Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Accusing the BJP of fostering communal disharmony, Mondal stated, “The BJP is trying to flare up communal tensions in the state. It is pursuing divisive politics, and the people of this state have repeatedly rejected it… I repeatedly tried to say this within the party but the leadership ignored me. It was getting tough for me to accept such politics.”

“I decided to be a part of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s developmental initiatives,” she added. In an official statement on X, the TMC said, “Her decision to join us is a testament to the growing disillusionment with BJP’s politics.”

Mondal, who defeated TMC’s Swapan Naskar by over 15,000 votes in 2021 as a BJP candidate, claimed she had “no power to serve the people of Haldia” during her time with the BJP.

Suvendu Adhikari downplayed the defection, saying, “She has no organisation and nobody — not even a booth president — went with her. People will reject such political opportunists.”

Mondal is not the first BJP legislator to switch to the TMC. Following the BJP’s success in securing 77 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly during the 2021 elections, 12 of its MLAs defected to the ruling party, bringing the BJP’s tally down to 65.

Additionally, two BJP MPs also joined the TMC. However, Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh later rejoined the BJP after being denied a ticket by the TMC for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Among the 12 defecting MLAs, some retained their BJP membership despite joining the TMC, while others resigned, triggering bypolls in their constituencies and reclaiming their seats after contesting again.