Actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty on Saturday urged all Opposition parties to come together to defeat Trinamul.

Though he isn’t the first BJP leader to call for a united fight against Trinamul, many in the party believed Mithun is a novice with little understanding of the gravity of what he said.

Chakraborty, who was initially close to the CPM before becoming an MP for Trinamul and switched allegiance to the BJP in 2021, has been touring the state to revive the saffron workers ahead of the panchayat polls.

Addressing a rally at Laudoha in West Burdwan on Saturday, Mithun said: “When Trinamul came to power, everyone came together to defeat the CPM. Congress, Trinamul, and (one) cannot deny even the BJP joined hands. Now, to defeat a force such as this (the Trinamul) everyone must come together. We can have separate ideologies....”

In the past, BJP leaders like state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar and junior Union minister Subhas Sarkar had given similar calls for a united fight against Trinamul.

However, several BJP leaders thought Mithun’s statement made on Saturday was immature.

“ Mithun da probably doesn’t realise the seriousness of what he has said,” a BJP leader said. “His statement can be inferred to imply that the BJP is incapable of winning the panchayat polls on its own.”

CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said the fight was against both the BJP and Trinamul.

State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also brushed aside Mithun’s offer.