New Delhi :
Trinamool Congres MLA Sunil Singh, along with 12 councillors, on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in presence of party leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy.
Singh, MLA from Noapara of North 24 Parganas, is brother-in-law of BJP's Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh. He is also the chairperson of Trinamool-run Garulia municipality. Along with Singh, 12 councillors of Garulia municipality also joined the BJP.
After the stunning performance of the BJP, which raised its tally from two to 18 in Lok Sabha election in the state, several Trinamool lawmakers have switched side. The BJP earlier had only three MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.
The Trinamool Congress leadership had accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading, an allegation denied by the BJP.
Earlier on May 29, MLA Monirul Islam had joined the BJP.
Islam, elected from Labpur constituency, and several office-bearers of the Trinamool Congress in Birbhum district had joined the saffron camp at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
They include Gadadhar Hazra, a former Trinamool MLA, Asif Iqbal and Nimai Das. Iqbal and Das are district office bearers of the party.
Islam told reporters that minorities are now "supporting" PM Modi due to his development agenda. BJP leaders claimed that more TMC MLAs will join the party in the coming days.
Three MLAs, including Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu Roy, Tusharkanti Bhattacharya and CPI(M)'s Debendra Nath Roy have also joined the BJP.
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.
