Tapas Roy, the Trinamul Congress MLA, who resigned from the party and the Assembly yesterday, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party this afternoon.

He went to BJP office and joined the saffron party in presence of state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition.

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Mr Majumdar said the BJP would accept only those leaders from other political parties who have a clean image.

Mr Roy started his political journey as a Chhatra Parishad member. Later, he became a Congress councillor in 1985. He later joined Trinamul Congress and became MLA thrice.

Roy, the Baranagar MLA had submitted his resignation letter to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Biman Bandopadhyay on Monday. However, controversy arose as a typographical error in the resignation letter led to its rejection.

The controversy unfolded as it was revealed that the resignation letter submitted contained a typographical error, rendering it invalid. The norm dictates that resignation letters must be handwritten, yet Roy’s letter was reportedly typed by the MLA.

Addressing the issue, Tapas Ray clarified, “Whether accepted or not, I have submitted my resignation. There should be no questions regarding the positions I resigned from. I acknowledge the typographical error, and tomorrow, on Thursday, I will submit a handwritten resignation. The current government is the government of Sheikh Shajahan and Uttam Sardar. I assured my loyalty and till the last day of my life I shall remain with the BJP. Wherever duty will be offered to me I will do it gladly,” he said after joining the BJP.

Mr Roy said, “There was no place for dissent or criticism. It’s not like this during Trinamul’s earlier days. I felt humiliated, insulted, and marginalized. No one listened. It became difficult for me.”