Bharatiya Janata Party's Haldia MLA Tapasi Mondal, a close aide of the leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari, joined the ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday.
Mondal's decision to join the TMC dealt a heavy blow to the BJP's organisation not just in Purba Medinipur, Adhikari's stronghold where the port town of Haldia is located, but also to its legislature party in which she played a key role with assembly elections in the state due early next year.
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She joined the TMC at its headquarters in Kolkata in the presence of state Power Minister Aroop Biswas.
"I decided to be a part of the chief minister's developmental initiative," she said, justifying the switching of sides.
Mondal won the Haldia seat as a Congress-supported CPI(M) candidate in 2016. She moved to the BJP after Adhikari joined the party from TMC ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.
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