BJP leader Arjun Singh, who has recently crossed over from TMC, has stated that about 100 MLAs from the Trinamool Congress will be joining the BJP soon. As per reports, the TMC has declined to offer a counter to his statement and has stated that he should see a doctor.
Arjun Singh, a four-time MLA from Bhatpara, had recently switched to BJP after the TMC denied him the MP ticket from Barackpore. Sitting MP Dinesh Trivedi was given the ticket. Singh had stated that the people of Barackpore were unhappy with the sitting MP and would have preferred him (Singh) as an MP.
Singh is considered a heavyweight leader with a large support base of ground workers and local leaders. His defection to BJP was stated as a considerable loss to Mamata’s party. Singh will be contesting against his TMC rival on a BJP ticket for the Barackpore Lok Sabha seat.
Several TMC leaders have defected to the BJP recently. Two sitting MPs Saumitra Khan from Bishnupur, and Anupam Hazra from the Bolpur seat also had switched to BJP in recent weeks.
Apart from Khan and Hazra, the BJP is believed to be in talks with sitting MLAs Sovan Chatterjee, MLA from Behala east and Sabyasachi Dutta, MLA from Rajarhat New Town. Sovan Chatterjee was a prominent TMC minister till he fell out of favor with Mamata.
Chatterjee and his friend Baisakhi Chatterjee were reportedly threatened by TMC workers and confined to a bungalow. TMC leader Arubrato Mondal had allegedly stated that if Sovan Chatterjee and his friend dared to join BJP, they will be ‘Khallas’ (finished).
The BJP has been campaigning aggressively in West Bengal. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also seems to have an assessment of the threat the BJP might pose for her as her government had tried every trick in the book to stop BJP leaders from holding rallies in the state.
The TMC government has attempted to stop BJP leaders Amit Shah, Shivraj Chouhan, Yogi Adityanath, and Shahnawaz Hussain from holding rallies or landing their helicopters under various pretenses. Mamata Banerjee’s government also did not allow the BJP to hold its mega campaigning Rath Yatra in the state last year.
BJP senior leader and national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain has been campaigning in West Bengal. Yesterday in his rally in Jalpaiguri, Hussain stated that Bengal will witness a paradigm shift in the coming days.