Ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls, Dinesh Trivedi who resigned as TMC MP joins BJP

Ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls, Dinesh Trivedi, who had resigned as TMC MP in Rajya Sabha on February 12, joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of the party's national president JP Nadda on Saturday.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal was also present.

"This is the golden moment for me, for which I have been waiting for a long time. Nadda ji and my friends knew I was waiting for this. I never left ideology. The nation was above everything for me. Every person believes that PM Narendra Modi and BJP will keep the nation secure," Trivedi said.

Trivedi resigned as Trinamool Congress MP from Rajya Sabha in February.

While announcing his resignation in the Rajya Sabha, Trivedi had said he was feeling suffocated. He also raked up the issue of violence in Bengal, which is also being raised by the BJP.

Several TMC leaders had earlier joined the BJP in the run up to Assembly elections.

West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.

( With inputs from ANI )