New Delhi, Mar 12 (IANS): In a major setback to the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, its MP Anupam Hazra on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at the party headquarters here in the presence of BJP General Secretary in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya and party leader Mukul Roy.

Along with Hazra, Congress MLA Dulal Chandra Bar and CPI-M MLA Khagen Murmu too joined the saffron party.

Before joining the BJP, Hazra had met Vijayvargiya and Roy here.

"A fresh beginning," Hazra wrote on his Facebook page where he also posted his photograph with Vijayvargiya.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP from Bolpur, who was once close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was expelled from the TMC in January for anti-party activities.

On January 9, TMC MP Saumitra Khan had crossed over to the saffron party citing lack of democracy in the state. Khan, who had won from Kotulpur in Bankura district on a Congress ticket in 2011, switched allegiance to the TMC in 2013. In 2014, he won from the Bishnupur Lok Sabha seat in Bankura district on a Trinamool ticket.

The BJP has been focusing a lot on West Bengal to emerge as the main opposition to the ruling TMC. The party hopes to improve its performance beyond the 2 Lok Sabha seats it won in the state in 2014.