Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega rally at the brigade parade ground in Kolkata.

Chakraborty joined the Saffron party in the presence of state party chief Dilip Ghosh. Earlier, he met BJP national general secretary in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya on Saturday evening.

" I am a pure cobra. You will be finished in one bite. Now, remember the new slogan -- Ek chhobole chhobi (One bite and you will become a photo," the actor said after joining the BJP.

Chakraborty was the Rajya Sabha MP for Trinamool Congress (TMC) for two years before resigning in 2016.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had met the actor at his Mumbai residence last month setting off speculation that he might join the BJP.

The Prime Minister's Sunday rally is said to be the culmination of the "Parivartan Yatra" launched by the saffron party in the poll-bound Bengal in February this year.

After having a limited presence in the politically polarised state for decades, the BJP has emerged as the ruling Trinamool Congress's main rival by winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal 2019 general elections, only four less than TMC's tally of 22.

With the BJP's strength increasing in the state in the last few years, its leaders are upbeat that the party will end Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's 10-year rule in the state polls.

Elections for the West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27.

(With inputs from PTI)

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:Mar 7, 2021 1:23 PM IST