Trinamul Congress continues with its unhinged poaching of BJP MLAs amidst an administrative tussle that seems to be brewing between the Centre and the state government.

On Tuesday, another former Trinamul leader who had switched to the BJP before the polls and won on a saffron ticket from Bagdah in North 24-Parganas, Biswajit Das, made a formal return, albeit without resigning from his constituency, taking the count of deserters to three till now. At least another seven to eight are expected to quit the BJP in the coming days.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari shot off letters to both the MLAs Ghosh and Das to clear their stand within one week. In the event of no-response to the letter, it will be presumed that they have defected to TMC.

This is the second consecutive day when the BJP has lost a legislator to the Trinamul outside the state Assembly. Inside, how the anti-defection law will play out is anybody’s guess.

Das, known for his proximity to Mukul Roy, the first BJP legislator to defect, was perceived to have been negotiating his return since his mentor quit the saffron fold. On that day in June, Das had skipped a meeting called by state BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

While the poaching of elected representatives is on, the state government is likely to be without a full-fledged Director General of Police as the UPSC is yet to submit the panel of names to the state.

Late on Tuesday evening, an order was issued by the government that stated: “Manoj Malaviya, Director General and Inspector General of Police (Organisation) and the senior most officer in the IPS cadre in the state, will in addition to his normal duties, hold the charge of Director General of Police… until further orders.”

Tuesday happens to be the last day in office for the incumbent DGP Virendra. According to sources, the UPSC was supposed to submit the names on Monday but did not. Even a video conference scheduled between the state and UPSC officials was cancelled at the last moment.

“The chief minister is livid at the delay. The state government had submitted the list of 21 officers as the Centre had demanded yet the process has been delayed,” said a source close to chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Mamata, however, is not in any mood to leave Virendra, who was appointed as the chairman of the West Bengal Police Recruitment Board on August 18.

Caught in the tussle between the state and the Centre is another IAS officer Naveen Prakash, who is also retiring on Tuesday. The former PWD secretary who is perceived to be close to Trinamul all-India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was re-employed as principal advisor (infrastructure) to the state government for a period of one year. The order was issued on Tuesday afternoon.

According to sources, the government is keen to send the IAS officer to the state administrative tribunal where two posts of administrative members are vacant.

“For the appointment to the SAT, the Centre’s sanction is required which is still awaited. While political quibbling is on, such administrative tug-of-war will also continue,” said a senior officer in the state administrative headquarters.