The saffron camp had to face a setback in Dinhata, the bastion of local MP and Union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik, as around 300 BJP supporters, including some prominent faces, switched to Trinamul on Sunday, less than a fortnight ahead of the bypoll on October 30.

In Dinhata, Pramanik had contested as BJP’s candidate in the Assembly polls and defeated Trinamul’s Udayan Guha by 57 votes. The BJP asked him to continue as MP, necessitating the bypoll. Trinamul has again fielded Guha for the bypoll. The BJP candidate now is former MLA Ashok Mondal.

District Trinamul leaders reached Dinhata and welcomed Sudeb Karmakar, district secretary of BJP, and his associates, to Bengal’s ruling party. “We had set a target to win this seat by 57,000 votes. But now we feel the margin will be one lakh,” said Trinamul leader Partha Pratim Roy.

Karmakar fumed at Pramanik. “As a minister, he has stopped speaking to party workers. Many will vote for Trinamul this time,” he said.

BJP leaders sounded unfazed at the defection. “We are confident of our support base in Dinhata,” said a district leader.