Former Union Minister and ex-BJP MP John Barla joined the Trinamool Congress on Thursday. This comes four months after he was seen at an event with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Mr. Barla, the former Alipurduar MP, joined the West Bengal ruling party at a function attended by Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Barkshi and State Minister Aroop Biswas in Kolkata.
After joining the Trinamool, Mr. Barla trained his guns on the BJP and accused the party of stopping development work in the State.
“If development work is stopped by a party, how can you function? Why should I be part of a party that stops working for the people? Tea garden workers blessed the BJP, but what did they get in return?” he asked.
Mr. Barla also spoke about his interaction with the Trinamool Congress chairperson and said she asked him to work for the people. The former BJP leader accused the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, of stopping the building of a ₹160 crore hospital in north Bengal.
BJP hindering public works
Mr. Barla, a scheduled tribe leader from the tea gardens, represented the Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat as a BJP MP from 2019 to 2024. He was also appointed Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs.
In the 2024 polls, the BJP dropped John Barla and fielded Manoj Tigga, who won the seat for the BJP. Since the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leader had started hitting a discordant note and deviating from the party line. Mr. Barla, who started out as a tea garden worker, rose to lead the Adivasi Vikas Parishad. He also served as Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs from July 2021 to June 2024.
Alipurduar is considered a BJP stronghold, and the party won a significant number of Assembly seats in 2021. However, the Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP in by-elections to the Madarihat Assembly seat in November 2024.
Several BJP MLAs and leaders from north and south Bengal joined the Trinamool Congress after the 2021 Lok Sabha polls.
Published – May 16, 2025 09:55 am IST
