Haldia BJP MLA Tapasi Mondal officially joined the Trinamul Congress (TMC) on Monday, delivering a significant blow to the state BJP and, more specifically, to Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.

Tapasi, who was a key member of the BJP’s legislative team in West Bengal, switched sides at the TMC headquarters in Kolkata, where she was welcomed by state minister Aroop Biswas, who handed over the party flag to her. Speaking about her decision to leave the BJP, Tapasi said: “The politics of division is being promoted, and I see people rejecting it. It was becoming increasingly difficult for me to accept this kind of politics.” She also cited Haldia’s development as a major reason for her move to TMC.

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Tapasi’s defection holds deeper political significance. She was not only a BJP MLA from Haldia but also a leader from Suvendu Adhikari’s home district, East Midnapur. Her departure from the BJP is being seen as a direct setback to Adhikari, who has been a key strategist for the party in the region. Tapasi Mondal has had an interesting political journey. She was previously a member of the CPM and won the Haldia seat in 2016 as a Left Front candidate, even as the TMC swept the state. At that time, Suvendu Adhikari was overseeing TMC’s operations in Haldia, yet she managed to secure victory for the CPM. Later, she joined the BJP under Suvendu’s leadership after he defected from the TMC. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election, she contested and won the Haldia seat as a BJP candidate.

Her departure from the BJP comes at a time when Suvendu Adhikari is intensifying his attacks on the ruling TMC, gearing up for the 2026 Assembly elections. This defection is seen as a major embarrassment for the BJP and Adhikari, while the TMC is celebrating it as a political victory. The development is particularly significant given the political landscape of East Midnapur. In both the 2021 Assembly election and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP faced heavy losses across West Bengal, especially in South Bengal. However, Adhikari’s home district was an exception, where the BJP outperformed TMC. Even chief minister Mamata Banerjee had lost to Adhikari in Nandigram.

With Tapasi Mondal’s switch to TMC, the ruling party is claiming that it has successfully struck back at the BJP’s stronghold. While the BJP still holds influence in North Bengal, the party’s position in South Bengal has weakened considerably. The defection of a key BJP legislator from East Midnapur further signals TMC’s intent to dismantle the BJP’s last standing fortress in the region. Suvendu Adhikari however said that no booth level worker is with her. “Ask this lady MLA to admit in the Assembly that she joined TMC. Several leaders joined BJP and left the party. There was no effect following this defection,” said Mr Adhikari.