Kolkata, Aug 19 (IANS): Trinamool Congress leader Yasser Haider, who is the son-in-law of state minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, joined the Congress here on Saturday.

Haider was welcomed into the party by state Congress President and veteran Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Haider was the state secretary of the youth wing of Trinamool till 2019, after which he was removed from the chair. He had then alleged that he was removed from the post without any prior intimation or valid reason.

Since then, he started distancing himself from the Trinamool before finally jumping ship to the Congress on Saturday.

“I was not getting the right opportunity to work in Trinamool Congress. Now I want to work for the people under the leadership of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Yes, I am the son-in-law of Firhad Hakim. But my family life and political life are different.

"I consider myself more as a social worker rather than a politician. I am not into politics to extort people or get involved in corruption. Despite that, I was removed from the post of state secretary of youth Trinamool Congress. Now I want to work for the people under the Congress leadership,” he said.

Asked why he chose the Congress over BJP, which is the principal opposition party in the state, Haider said that doing politics over religious issues like temples and mosques is against his ideology.