Lok Sabha election 2019: Fearing TMC might deny him ticket, its MP Saumitra Khan joins BJP

The 38-year-old leader said he, like many other young people, has faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, he added, would bring about a change in the state."There is no democracy in the state. People cannot vote. Police raj is there," he told reporters at a press conference here. Khan represents the Bishnupur constituency in the Lok Sabha and was earlier a member of the state assembly as well, reported PTI.

Saumitra Khan, TMC MP from Bishnupur joined BJP today in Delhi. Picture tweeted by Mukul Roy.

New Delhi: After hopping on from Congress to Trinamool Congress, parliamentarian Saumitra Khan has now switched sides to Bharatiya Janata Party giving the saffron party a boost in West Bengal three months before Lok Sabha elections. Khan, who joined BJP following a meeting with party president Amit Shah, as expected hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and justified his migration. He alleged that there was no democracy, but "police raj" in the state. Reports say he shifted to the BJP as he foresaw losing out on a ticket from TMC for general polls. The 38-year-old leader said he, like many other young people, has faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, he added, would bring about a change in the state."There is no democracy in the state. People cannot vote. Police raj is there," he told reporters at a press conference here. Khan represents the Bishnupur constituency in the Lok Sabha and was earlier a member of the state assembly as well, reported PTI. The induction of Khan was in the presence of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukul Roy, a former powerful TMC leader who had defected to the BJP in 2017. Pradhan claimed that the development marked the changing politics of the state, saying the BJP's acceptance and credibility was at an "all-time high" in eastern India as the Modi government had given the region a priority in its agenda of growth and progress. "There is an atmosphere in the favour of the BJP. Eastern India will provide a strong pillar for the government's return to power at the Centre in the Lok Sabha polls," Pradhan was quoted by the news agency.

Saumitra Khan, TMC MP from Bishnupur joined BJP today in Delhi.

Countdown started for @MamataOfficial Devi, your MP and MLA’s will leave you one after another and Loksabha 2019 will bring an end to your misrule. pic.twitter.com/B8khaA5Sgd — Mukul Roy (@MukulR_Official) January 9, 2019

Muk Roy also attacked CM Mamata saying, "countdown started for @MamataOfficial Devi, your MP and MLA’s will leave you one after another and Loksabha 2019 will bring an end to your misrule." Amit Shah set a target of 22 seats. It had merely won two of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, while the TMC bagged 34. When he quit the Congress in 2013 as an MLA, Khan said he was “unhappy” with the state Congress for “ignoring” Bankura.