TMC leaders Arjun Singh and Divyendu Adhikari join BJP

In a significant political development, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Arjun Singh and Divyendu Adhikari have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), delivering a blow to Mamata Banerjee's party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Arjun Singh, a dissident TMC leader and Barrackpore MP, returned to the BJP after being denied a ticket by the ruling party in West Bengal, while Divyendu Adhikari, brother of prominent opposition leader Subhendu Adhikari, also switched sides due to longstanding grievances with the TMC leadership.

In a ceremony attended by BJP General Secretary Dushyant Gautam and National Secretary Amit Malviya, both Arjun Singh and Divyendu Adhikari formally joined the BJP, highlighting the growing support for the party in West Bengal. The defection follows a similar move by Subhendu Adhikari's brother Soumendu Adhikari, who recently contested on a BJP ticket from Contai parliamentary seat.

Singh's return to BJP marks a reversal from his 2019 departure, where he defeated a TMC candidate in Barrackpore but later retracted due to differences within the BJP. Despite his brief stint back with TMC, Singh's parliamentary membership remained intact, underscoring the volatile political landscape in West Bengal ahead of the elections.