Kolkata: In a setback for the Bengal BJP, Haldia MLA Tapasi Mondal, a close associate of Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari, joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday. Her defection, seen as a blow to BJP’s organisation in Haldia, was welcomed by TMC as a sign of “growing disillusionment” with BJP’s politics.
Mondal cited dissatisfaction with the BJP’s “divisive politics” and lack of developmental progress in her constituency as reasons for switching sides. She expressed confidence in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, stating that only TMC could address local unemployment and development issues.
Mondal, who won the Haldia seat as a Congress-backed CPI(M) candidate in 2016, had joined BJP alongside Adhikari in 2020. She is the 13th BJP MLA to defect since the party won 77 seats in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections. Adhikari dismissed her exit, calling her an “opportunist” and claiming no BJP workers followed her.