Dipendu Biswas returns to TMC ahead of Assembly polls, calls BJP move a ‘wrong decision’

In a significant political development ahead of the Assembly elections, former Basirhat South MLA and ex-Indian national footballer Dipendu Biswas has rejoined the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), admitting that his earlier decision to join the BJP was a “wrong decision.” His return comes amid heightened political activity in Bengal and is being seen as a boost for the ruling party in North 24 Parganas district.

Biswas has had a long association with the TMC. He contested the 2014 by-election from Basirhat South on a TMC ticket but lost. In the 2016 Assembly elections, however, he secured a comfortable victory from the same seat. Ahead of the 2021 polls, after not being renominated by the party, he switched to the BJP. The saffron party did not field him as a candidate either, though he was made a permanent member of its state committee. Within months, he resigned, sending his letter to the then state president Dilip Ghosh.

His formal return to the TMC ahead of the 2026 elections has reignited political discussions in Basirhat, where observers say he still commands considerable local support. Party insiders believe his homecoming could help consolidate the organisation in a constituency that remains politically sensitive.

The development coincided with several other inductions at the Basirhat organisational district office. Kader Sardar, state Congress spokesperson and Basirhat Block 1 Congress president, rejoined the TMC along with three Pifa Gram Panchayat Congress members and over a hundred leaders, workers and supporters. Former Basirhat Municipality vice-chairman Partha Sarathi Basu and leaders from the CPI(M), ISF and BJP also joined, signalling what the TMC describes as expanding support ahead of the polls.