India News | West Bengal: Dhupguri's Ex-TMC MLA Joins BJP Two Days Before Bypoll
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Former TMC MLA of Dhupguri Mitali Roy on Sunday morning joined the BJP, two days before the by-election in the seat.
Jalpaiguri (WB), Sep 3 (PTI) Former TMC MLA of Dhupguri Mitali Roy on Sunday morning joined the BJP, two days before the by-election in the seat.
She won the seat in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district in 2016 on a TMC ticket, but lost to BJP's Bishnu Pada Roy in the 2021 assembly elections.
Also Read | 'Freebies' vs 'Welfarism' Schemes: As Supreme Court Mulls Over Matter, RBI Raises Red Flags.
It was the BJP MLA's death on July 25 that necessitated the by-election, the polling for which will be held on Tuesday. The votes will be counted on September 8.
Roy joined the BJP in the presence of its state president Sukanta Majumdar, Jalpaiguri MP Jayanta Roy, Dabgram-Phulbari MLA Shikha Chatterjee and the party's district president Bapi Goswami.
Also Read | Germany: CDU Urges Faster Removal of Rejected Asylum-seekers.
"I was not being able to work in the TMC. I was under tremendous mental pressure. I did not want to campaign for the Dhupguri bypoll but I was being forced for it. I joined the BJP because it is in power at the Centre, which will help me to bring development to the area and fulfill the people's needs," she said.
Majumdar said Roy is a veteran leader of the area, and she knows about the needs of the people.
"Her joining will strengthen the BJP," he said.
On Saturday, BJP's former district president Dwipen Pramanik joined the TMC.
The TMC has fielded college professor Nirmal Chandra Roy in the seat for the bypoll, while the BJP has nominated Tapasi Roy, the widow of a CRPF jawan killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021. The CPI(M) has fielded folk singer Ishwar Chandra Roy and the Congress will extend support to him.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)