BJP leader and former Union minister John Barla joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday, and claimed that the saffron party did not allow him to work for tribal people.

Barla, who was elected on a BJP ticket from Alipurduars in 2019 and served as Union minister of state for minority affairs, had expressed unhappiness after being denied a party ticket for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP replaced Barla with Manoj Tigga, the party’s chief whip in the state assembly, as its candidate for Alipurduars, and the new candidate emerged victorious.

“I was not allowed to work for the development of the tribal people during my time in the BJP,” Barla said after formally joining the TMC.

“I believe under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, I will be able to do justice to the cause of the tribal population,” he said.

Since being dropped as a candidate, Barla had been maintaining a distance from the BJP’s West Bengal leadership, sparking speculation about his political future.