Kolkata: In yet another jolt to the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal, MLA Suman Kanjilal joined Trinamool Congress in presence of party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday.
Several BJP MLAs including Mukul Roy, Arjun Singh, and Rajib Banerjee have switched sides following Mamata Banerjee’s landslide victory in the 2021 state Assembly elections.
There was a buzz in political circles that three more BJP MLAs are in touch with the TMC. Abhishek Banerjee has said several BJP MLAs want to come and stressed if the TMC opens the door a lot more will join.
The exit of the MLA is significant since the BJP legislator’s constituency Alipurduar falls in North Bengal where the party did well in the 2021 polls. Two more MLAs from North Bengal– Krishna Kalyani and Soumen Roy– had joined the TMC earlier.
TMC insiders said the party is working in every way to regain its lost ground in North Bengal and thus induction of BJP MLAs from the region is significant.
Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari dared Abhishek Banerjee to ask Suman Kanjilal to admit on tape and inside the Assembly that he has joined the TMC. He asked Abhishek why he is scared of the 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
“Are you scared of the 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution (anti-defection law)? Not handing over TMC flag? Because, inside Vidhan Sabha, as in the case of Mukul Roy, TMC owner labelled him as BJP; Suman Kanjilal would also claim that he belongs to the BJP Legislative Party,” he tweeted. Adhikari said the BJP Legislature Party isn’t affected by “such stunts”.