West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026: As Assembly election season draws near in the eastern state, so does defections among political leaders. MLA from Haldia constituency Tapasi Mondal has made the second switch of her political career. The Haldia MLA was elected as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member in 2016, but later in 2020 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On 10 March 2025, Tapasi Mondal joined CM Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), a party she had vocally condemned in 2021.
The next West Bengal Legislative Assembly election is expected to be held in March or April 2026. This election will determine the composition of the 294-member West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the next five-year term. The current tenure of the assembly ends on May 7, 2026.
MLA Tapasi Mondal joined TMC in Kolkata on Monday, 10 March.
Tapasi Mondal was Expelled from CPI(M)
In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Tapasi Mondal was nominated to contest as the candidate of the Left Front coalition in West Bengal from the Haldia constituency of Purba Medinipur district.
Tapasi Mondal‘s primary opponent was TMC candidate Madhurima Mandal.
The Assembly election results saw Tapasi Mondal emerging as the winning candidate with a margin of over 21,000 votes and polling at 50.17% of the votes cast against 39.53% of the votes cast in favor of Madhurima Mandal.
In December 2020, Mondal was expelled from her party after she declared that she intended to join BJP.
Tapasi Mondal Helped BJP Make Inroads Into CPM Stronghold – Haldia
Once a stronghold of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Haldia, alongside the neighbouring Khejuri that saw violence during Nandigram anti-land acquisition protests that propelled the TMC to power, witnessed a political churn in 2021.
Haldia MLA, Tapasi Mandal, from the Left Front was then the BJP candidate, and Suvendu Adhikari, who had ensured a sweep for TMC in the district of Purba Medinipur in 2019 Lok Sabha polls had also defected to become BJP’s star candidate.
In 2021, Bengal CM and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee has expressed her affinity for Haldia, recalling past struggles with the CPM. She warned that a BJP government would jeopardise the town’s port and steel industry, threatening local livelihoods. However, in February that year, PM Narendra Modi announced infrastructure projects worth ₹4,700 crore in Haldia.
Tapasi Mondal Accused TMC of Hurling Bombs at Her House
On 29 January 2021, Tapasi Mondal had alleged that crude bombs were hurled at her residence in Purba Medinipur by “TMC goons”, in an attempt to “create fear psychosis” among locals ahead of 2021 Bengal Assembly elections.
In 2021, the saffron camp had alleged that Haldia had been witnessing political disturbances since Suvendu Adhikari, who wields considerable influence in the area, switched to the BJP from the ruling TMC.
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