Kolkata, March 23 Congress councillor Santosh Pathak joined the BJP on Monday, a significant boost for the party in central Kolkata ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections.
Pathak, who represents Ward 45 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), was welcomed by the BJP's state president, Samir Bhattacharya.
The BJP is likely to field Pathak from the Chowranghee seat, according to party sources.
This was another setback for the Congress, which won two seats in the 2021 KMC elections. Its Ward 137 councillor, Wasim Ansari, had previously joined the TMC.
Pathak, a four-time councillor, has managed to retain his ward despite the TMC's strong showing across the city.
The TMC has renominated Nayna Bandopadhyay, the wife of party MP Sudip Bandopadhyay, in the Chowranghee seat.
Pathak contested as a Congress candidate in Chowranghee in 2021 and secured around 13 per cent of the votes. The BJP candidate received 22 per cent of the votes, while Bandopadhyay won by securing 62 per cent of the votes.
Polling for the 294-member assembly will be held in two phases, on April 23 and 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.
