Overview
- Paes, who joined the TMC in 2021 and campaigned in Goa in 2022, entered the BJP on Tuesday at its New Delhi headquarters in the presence of Union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Sukanta Majumdar.
- After the induction, he said he wants to serve young people through sports education and better facilities, citing gaps such as the lack of indoor tennis courts in India.
- A day later he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who posted that they discussed sports and nation-building and praised Paes’s passion.
- BJP leaders said his role in the West Bengal race is not decided yet, with reports indicating he is expected to campaign rather than receive a ticket at this stage.
- The TMC criticized the switch as ‘bohiragoto’—a Bengali term for outsider—as West Bengal votes in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting on May 4.