Former Union minister and ex-BJP MP from Alipurduars, John Barla, on Thursday joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), alleging that the BJP leadership repeatedly blocked his attempts to work for the welfare of tribal people and tea garden workers. Barla, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 on a BJP ticket and served as minister of state for minority affairs, had been openly critical of the party after being denied a ticket for the 2024 general elections. The BJP had fielded the party’s legislative chief whip, Manoj Tigga, in his place. Tigga went on to win the Alipurduars parliamentary seat, which has a large population of tea garden workers and tribal communities. Since then, Barla had distanced himself from the BJP’s Bengal leadership, fuelling speculation about a possible switch. On Thursday, he formally joined the TMC in Kolkata in the presence of senior leaders Subrata Bakshi and Aroop Biswas. “If development work for the people is stopped by the party itself, why should I continue in it?” Barla said after joining the Mamata Banerjee-led party here. “When I became a Union minister, I faced roadblocks every time I tried to work for the people. The party leadership repeatedly stopped me,” he claimed. Barla said he wanted to build a Rs 160 crore hospital, and all formalities including identification of land for the purpose, were completed. “We just had to sign the MoU, but the present Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari got it blocked. A call went from here to Delhi, and the project was shelved,” he claimed. Noting that tea garden workers and the tribal population had blessed the BJP, he wondered what they got in return. “I want to thank Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for giving me a platform where I can actually work for the people. I spoke to her a few months ago, and she asked me to come forward and serve the people, which is why I am joining TMC,” he said. The Trinamool Congress welcomed the former BJP MP to the party. “With his experience and grassroots connect, especially in Alipurduar and among tea garden workers, we are confident he will play a meaningful role in strengthening our fight for people’s rights,” the TMC said in a post on X. Barla’s fallout with the BJP is also believed to have contributed to the party’s poor performance in the region. Differences between him and Manoj Tigga over candidate selection reportedly impacted the BJP’s prospects in the Madarihat assembly bypoll held last year, which the TMC won. Barla had earlier courted controversy in 2021-22 when he, along with some BJP legislators, demanded that a Union Territory be carved out of the districts in the northern part of West Bengal. The move was criticised by the TMC, which had accused the BJP of trying to divide the state.