Putting an end to weeks of speculation, veteran politician and MP Sisir Adhikari joined the BJP on Sunday.
Adhikari joined the saffron camp in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah by chanting slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' during an election rally in West Bengal on Sunday.
The MP has followed in the footsteps of his two sons Suvendu and Soumendu, who had joined the BJP earlier.
The patriarch of the Adhikari family -- which wields considerable influence in Bengal's Purba Medinipur district -- said that he was forced to switch camp, as the leaders of the ruling party left him with no other option.
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Earlier, too, Sisir Adhikari had accused the ruling party of "humiliating" him and son Suvendu, who is locked in a fierce battle with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the district's Nandigram constituency.
"They (TMC leaders) forced me to join the BJP. Let them (TMC) do what they want, and I will do what I can," Adhikari told reporters here before leaving for Egra, where he is set to attend Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally.
He asserted that Suvendu Adhikari will bag the Nandigram seat by a comfortable margin.
"Suvendu will win the polls by a huge margin. The TMC will be wiped out of East Midnapore," the Lok Sabha MP added.
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Sources in the BJP said his other son Dibyendu, a TMC MP from Tamluk, may also follow suit.
(With PTI inputs)
