17 GJM councillors join BJP in presence of Kailash Vijaywargiya, Mukul Roy

Days after several lawmakers of Trinamool Congress joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, at least 17 councillors of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has joined the saffron party in presence of party general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya and Mukul Roy. 

Talking to media, the BJP general secretary said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not acting normally after losing the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. 

"She is not acting normally... the way she has denied permission to BJP's 'Vijay Rally' shows her frustration," the BJP leader said.

Earlier, Vijayvargiya indicated that the TMC government in West Bengal might not be able to complete its term and urged his party workers to prepare themselves as an "alternative force" before the assembly election.

"We don't know whether the TMC government will be able to continue in Bengal till 2021," Vijayvargiya told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting here. "We want it to, but we are not sure whether it would be able to as the people and party leaders are angry with the functioning of the government," he said.

The Trinamool Congress, which lost 12 seats it held in the general election, faced another jolt when two legislators and a majority of councillors in four municipalities switched to the BJP after the results.

Earlier, three MLAs, including BJP leader Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu Roy, joined the BJP as it works to consolidate its position in the state following its impressive show there in the Lok Sabha polls.

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. 

The BJP increased its tally from two by bagging 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The TMC's tally came down to 22 from the 34 seats it had won in 2014.