Setback to Mamata Banerjee as 2 TMC MLAs, 50 councillors join BJP in West Bengal

In another major jolt for West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress after the Lok Sabha election blow, at least two of its MLAs and a host of municipal councillors joined the BJP in Delhi on Tuesday.

BJP leaders Kailash Vijaivargiya and Mukul Roy join hands with two Trinamool Congress and one CPM legislator, who joined Bharatiya Janata Party along with 60 councillors from three civic bodies in West Bengal, in New Delhi. PTI

NEW DELHI: In another major jolt for West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress after the Lok Sabha election blow, at least two of its MLAs and a host of municipal councillors joined the BJP in Delhi on Tuesday. BJP leader Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu Roy joined the saffron party at the party's headquarters here in the presence of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya. Subhrangshu Roy was suspended by the TMC for his "anti-party" activities after the general election results were announced. TMC's Tusharkanti Bhattacharya and CPI(M)'s Debendra Nath Roy were the other MLAs from the state who joined the saffron party along with several councillors, BJP leader Anil Baluni said. Mukul Roy is seen to be instrumental in engineering the defection of TMC leaders to the BJP and, political watchers believe, he is one of the key architects of the party's best ever show in West Bengal, where TMC president Mamata Banerjee is in power since 2011. The TMC had won 211 of the assembly's 294 seats in 2016. The BJP had won only three seats, but has since emerged as the principal challenger to her. A party needs to win at least 10 per cent of seats to be officially recognised as the main opposition party. "People are fleeing the TMC to join the BJP. Many more will join in the coming weeks," Roy said. With over 50 councillors joining the BJP, the party has got a majority in at least three municipal councils. Vijaywargiya noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in a speech during his campaign that over 40 TMC MLAs are in touch with the BJP and many regional party leaders are feeling suffocated due to Banerjee's "dictatorial" functioning. "We want her government to continue till 2021, but if it falls due to her doings, then we cannot help it," he said in a swipe at her. In the Lok Sabha polls, the TMC fell to 22 seats from 34, while the BJP's tally zoomed to 18 from two. During the Lok Sabha campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and other BJP leaders had claimed that around 100 Trinamool MLAs could join the BJP once the general election got over. Modi had even said that 40 Trinamool legislators were in touch with him. The BJP came up with a stunning performance capturing 18 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats as against only two it won five years back. The Trinamool, which had bagged a whopping 34 seats in 2014, saw its tally plunging to 22. The Congress seat count was halved to two from four while the CPI-M failed to open its account. The Marxists had triumphed in two seats in 2014.