Congress leader Pradip Ghosh Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party along with his loyalists, accusing the Congress of lacking inner-party democracy.
"I have not joined the BJP for the lure of any post. The party I have left will say such things now. But the fact is, there is no democracy in that party. We have seen in recent times, that the present state Congress leadership even resorts to beating up vocal workers inside the party office to silence them.
"It is impossible to work in such an organisation. By remaining in such a party, one cannot do anything for the people's benefit. I have taken the decision in the interest of the people," Ghosh said after formally joining the BJP.
A former member of Kolkata Municipal Corporation's mayor-in-council, Ghosh had earlier this month visited the state BJP headquarters and met its state president Rahul Sinha. Since then, there had been intense speculation about Ghosh joining the BJP.