Senior Trinamul Congress leader and city mayor Firhad Hakim's son-in-law joined the opposition Congress here on Saturday.

Yasser Haider, who is known for his close relation with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and was once the state secretary of the party's youth wing, had quit the party early this year.

Speaking about his reasons for quitting TMC and joining Congress, Haider expressed his "unhappiness" over his name being "mysteriously" removed as the party's youth state secretary.

"I was not known as a political leader but as a social worker. I have close associations with people at the grassroots level. I worked day in and day out for the party but did not get any reward for that. In 2019, I found my name missing," he said.

He joined Congress in the presence of Chowdhury.

Hakim, who is also the cabinet minister for urban development, municipal affairs and housing and the TMC MLA from Kolkata Port seat, did not give any importance to the development.

"I am least bothered about the development. I believe that the day is not far away when Congress' name will be found only in history books. It is inducting people who have no identity of their own but are known as people close to Firhad Hakim. This is quite a sorry picture for the Congress," Hakim told PTI over the phone.

When Haider was asked whether he had any discussion with Hakim before joining Congress, he said, "I respect him and I have grown up seeing him as a leader. But our ideologies have now changed".

To questions on why he chose Congress over BJP, Haider quipped, "I do not do politics over Ram Mandir or Masjid. I love to work for the people and Congress is the best platform for that."

He said, "I was willing to join Congress for a long time now. I contacted the party expressing my willingness and I am happy that WBPCC chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury gave me the opportunity. I want to work for the people".

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