KOLKATA: BJP MLA Tapasi Mondal joined TMC at the party’s headquarters here on Monday, denting the saffron party in leader of the opposition in Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari’s East Midnapore home district and bringing down its effective strength in the House from 77 seats in 2021 to 65 now thanks to defections as well as TMC winning all bypolls.
“BJP is focussing on divisive politics, which the people of Bengal have rejected and which I could not accept. There has been no response from BJP’s central leadership despite me raising the issue. So, I have decided to leave BJP and join Mamata Banerjee’s politics of development,” Mondal said, while accepting the party flag from Bengal minister Aroop Biswas.
Mondal, who had to face several queries about her flip-flops during Monday’s media briefing, said she was not “allowed to work” when she became a CPM MLA in 2016. “I could not work
