The BJP on Tuesday sought to serve notice on the Mamata Banerjee government by parading in New Delhi over 60 elected representatives from the Opposition in Bengal, bragging that a campaign claim of Narendra Modi had been vindicated and announcing with impunity a seven-phase defection programme next month.
The single-largest defection drive in the state by the BJP appears to have been copied from the Trinamul playbook itself as both the Congress and the Left had earlier fallen victim to similar tactics by the ruling party in Bengal.
Among those who crossed over on Tuesday are three MLAs -- two from the Trinamul camp and one from the CPM -- and 60 Trinamul councillors and some panchayat functionaries.
With the defections, the BJP's tally in the Assembly rises to 10. Trinamul now has 228 MLAs in the 294-member House where the majority mark is 148.
'How's this for a start?' Bengal BJP minder Kailash Vijayvargiya gloated as the party claimed that the days of the Mamata government were numbered.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modiji had said 40 Trinamul MLAs were in touch with him. Trinamul had then challenged us, saying not even one councillor would defect.... Well, how is this for a start? Sixty councillors and three MLAs, a few days after the results,' Vijayvargiya said.
'Many more MLAs and others will join the BJP soon. Expect a seven-phase defection next month,' he added.
'This is the story of Bengal,' Vijayvargiya declared, pointing to the crowded podium behind him where the new converts were finding it difficult to find space to stand.
While Mamata did not comment on the defections, Trinamul leader Firhad Hakim questioned the decision of the defectors on 'moral and ideological' grounds.
The Telegraph
But the story of at least one MLA suggests what goes around comes around. Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya, the MLA from Bishnupur, was elected on a Congress ticket with the backing of the Left in 2016. He switched sides to Trinamul but, technically, remained a 'Congress MLA'. Now he has joined the BJP.
Trinamul, which had 211 MLAs in the 294-member House after the Assembly polls of 2016, had increased its tally through defections.
On Tuesday, Mukul Roy, the former No. 2 in Trinamul, and Vijayvargiya oversaw the switchover to the BJP. With the defections, the BJP got control of the Bhatpara, Kanchrapara, Halishahar and Naihati municipalities overnight.
Responding to questions on Trinamul allegations of horse-trading, Mukul Roy said those defecting to the BJP were doing so out of 'claustrophobia'.
'It was, all along, our plan to keep people in Trinamul for as long as necessary, to make them work for the BJP from within. Now, the time has come to bring some of them out, step by step,' he added.
Trinamul sources said at least eight other MLAs -- four from North 24-Parganas -- were planning to join the BJP next month.
'We wish Mamataji the very best. We want her government to last the full term, till 2021, when the people will vote her out anyway. However, if it collapses earlier, because of her actions, we cannot really help,' Vijayvargiya said.
