Jailed TMC leader Anubrata's aide joins BJP due to 'lack of opportunity'

A close aide of jailed Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal joined the BJP, citing an "increasingly difficult working situation" and "lack of opportunity" in the party to serve the people

A close aide of jailed Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal on Tuesday joined the BJP, citing an "increasingly difficult working situation" and "lack of opportunity" in the West Bengal's ruling party to serve the people.

TMC's Birbhum district vice president Biplab Ojha switched over to the saffron camp at a meeting attended by leader of opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Ojha's move will not have any impact on the party's performance in panchayat polls due next year.

In an apparent reference to Trinamool Congress' Anubrata Mondal, Adhikari said, "A big leader, who used to be a fish seller, is poised to go to Tihar jail. His associate is already there."

Notably, Sehegal Hossain, the former bodyguard of Mondal, was arrested in connection with a cattle smuggling case and is now lodged in Tihar jail.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, in August, arrested Mondal in connection with its probe into the case.

"Big thieves will be sent to Tihar jail. Wait for some more days. Those who looted money of the poor and amassed wealth would not be spared," Adhikari said while addressing the meeting of BJP workers at Nalhati in Birbhum.

Notably, Mondal moved the Delhi High Court, challenging a trial court order for producing him in the national capital in a money laundering case related to alleged cattle smuggling.

The Enforcement Directorate has been probing into the alleged money trail in the multi-crore cattle smuggling case in West Bengal, along with CBI.

Reacting to Adhikari's comments, Ghosh wondered whether the BJP leader has become the public relation officer of CBI and ED as he "predicted their next move in judicial cases".