Former Union Minister John Barla tilts towards Trinamool Congress
The Hindu
Former Union Minister and BJP leader John Barla on January 23 participated in a government event, a move that has triggered widespread speculation about whether a tribal leader from North Bengal is going to desert the BJP and join the TMC
Former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader John Barla on Thursday (January 23, 2025) participated in a government event, a move that has triggered widespread speculation about whether a tribal leader from North Bengal is going to desert the BJP and join the Trinamool Congress.
“She had called me. There is a lot to talk about (with the Chief Minister). If the party ties your hands then you cannot work. I want to work freely,” the former Alipurduar MP said after sharing the dais with the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
It is not usual for leaders of the Opposition parties to be invited to the events of the Chief Minister in West Bengal, but the State government had extended an invite for the former BJP MP. Sources in the Trinamool Congress suggested that a formal joining of the MP did not take place because it was a government event.
Mr. Barla, who had represented Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat as BJP MP from 2019 to 2024, also added that the Chief Minister had done a lot of work for the development of Dooars region. In the 2024 Lok Sabha 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 rose to political prominence from a tea garden worker to a leader of Adivasi Vikas Parishad and also served as the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs from July 2021 to June 2024.
Alipurduar has been considered one of the strongholds of the BJP and the party has won significant Assembly seats in 2021 Assembly polls. However, in the bypolls at Madarihat in November 2024, the Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP.
While the Trinamool Congress leadership is confident that John Barla’s presence will improve the party’s prospects in north Bengal, the BJP leadership says that the party has nothing to worry about him.
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