Bengal Elections 2026: Pabitra Kar, Ex Suvendu Adhikari Loyalist, Rejoins TMC; To Contest Against LoP In Nandigram
The TMC said Kar was "dissatisfied with the BJP's anti-people stance" and had chosen to "stand firmly" beside Mamata Banerjee.
Published : March 17, 2026 at 2:58 PM IST
|Updated : March 17, 2026 at 4:43 PM IST
Kolkata: Pabitra Kar, a former BJP panchayat chief in West Bengal who was once close to senior party leader Suvendu Adhikari, rejoined the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday and has been pitted against Adhikari in the Nandigram seat in the upcoming assembly polls.
Kar's name was in TMC's first list of candidates for Bengal Assembly Elections that the party released on Tuesday. Adhikari, the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the state, had defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a slender margin of a little over 1,900 votes in Nandigram.
In the presence of our Hon’ble National General Secretary Shri @abhishekaitc, Shri Pabitra Kar, former BJP leader from Boyal-I Gram Panchayat under Nandigram-II Block in Purba Medinipur, joined the Trinamool Congress family today.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 17, 2026
Dissatisfied with BJP’s anti-people stance, he… pic.twitter.com/MtqJGhfOKJ
Earlier today, Kar, formerly a panchayat pradhan of Boyal-1 gram panchayat in Nandigram-2 block of Purba Medinipur district, rejoined the TMC in the presence of the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The TMC, in a post on X, said Kar was "dissatisfied with the BJP's anti-people stance".
"Dissatisfied with BJP’s anti-people stance, he has chosen to stand firmly beside @MamataOfficial and work in the true spirit of Maa-Mati-Manush for the welfare of the people. We extend a warm welcome to him and look forward to his dedicated service to the people," read the post.
The TMC also shared a video of Abhishek welcoming Kar back to the party, with the latter hugging him and then holding the TMC flag in his hands
Kar, who quit the TMC in November 2020 to join the BJP, played a significant role in consolidating the saffron party's organisational structure in the Boyal-1 area and was believed to have been instrumental in securing a lead for the BJP in the region in the 2021 assembly elections.
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