Bengal assembly polls: 4 TMC MLAs switch to BJP after being denied tickets

Adding to the long list of desertions in the Trinamool Congress, party leaders including four sitting MLAs joined the BJP on Monday (March 8).

They are Rabindranath Bhattacharya, a three-time MLA from Singur; Sarala Murmu, who was given a ticket from Habibpur constituency in Malda district; Sonali Guha, a four-time MLA from Satgachia in South 24 Parganas; Dipendu Biswas, the MLA from Basirhat Dakshin (North 24 Parganas) and Shibpur MLA Jatu Lahiri. Actor Tanushree Chakraborty also joined the BJP.

The leaders joined the party in presence of West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, national vice president Mukul Roy, Suvendu Adhikari and Locket Chatterjee.

Related news: Modi promises ‘Ashol Poriborton’, teases Mamata over Nandigram seat

Murmu reportedly was upset over being given a ticket to Habibpur constituency, where she believes the BJP has more chance of winning and had asked for a winnable seat, like Old Malda constituency, but in vain.

The rest of the MLAs were reportedly denied tickets for the upcoming polls.

The development comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a massive gathering in the poll-bound state, the first after the Election Commission declared dates for the assembly elections. The event also saw actor Mithun Chakraborty joining the saffron party in presence of senior BJP leaders.

“Nothing can be worse for the TMC than its own members feeling humiliated and eventually leaving the party. Now they are getting celebrities to fill the position. Numbers suggest that we have a majority in Malda and BJP will soon have its chairman in the district,” Dilip Ghosh commented on the desertions.

Earlier on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a rally in Kolkata in protest against LPG price hike.

Related news: Mamata protests LPG price hike in Siliguri, questions PM Modi