Jailed TMC leader Anubrata Mondal's close aide joins BJP

TMC's Birbhum district vice president Biplab Ojha switched over to the saffron camp at a meeting attended by Leader of Opposition in the State assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

A close aide of jailed Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, citing an "increasingly difficult working situation" and "lack of opportunity" in the West Bengal's ruling party to serve the people.

TMC's Birbhum district vice president Biplab Ojha switched over to the saffron camp at a meeting attended by Leader of Opposition in the State assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Mr. Ojha's move will not have any impact on the party's performance in panchayat polls due next year.

In an apparent reference to Trinamool Congress' Anubrata Mondal, Mr. Adhikari said, "A big leader, who used to be a fish seller, is poised to go to Tihar jail. His associate is already there."

Notably, Sehegal Hossain, the former bodyguard of Mondal, was arrested in connection with a cattle smuggling case and is now lodged in Tihar jail.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, in August, arrested Mondal in connection with its probe into the case.

"Big thieves will be sent to Tihar jail. Wait for some more days. Those who looted money of the poor and amassed wealth would not be spared," Mr. Adhikari said while addressing the meeting of BJP workers at Nalhati in Birbhum.