Trinamul nominee Sarala Murmu and five sitting Trinamul lawmakers who did not get tickets this time — former deputy speaker Sonali Guha, Sital Sardar, Jatu Lahiri, Rabindranath Bhattacharya and former footballer Dipendu Biswas — joined the BJP at the saffron party’s election office at Hastings, Calcutta, on Monday.

Murmu’s defection became a talking point in political circles as she joined the saffron camp despite Trinamul having nominated her from Habibpur of Malda district for the 2021 Assembly polls.

Sarala Murmu. Soumya De Sarkar

Murmu, who is not an MLA, when quizzed about her decision to leave a party that gave her the poll ticket, said: “It is not possible to work for Trinamul in Malda, where development has taken a back seat. What exists is acute infighting among lobbies. That is why I made the decision (to switch parties).”

Senior political analysts said Murmu’s was a rare move as MLAs usually tend to switch sides when they are denied tickets.

“It is common to see MLAs defecting to other parties after winning in elections. But it is rare to see a candidate fielded by the party joining another party ahead of polls,” said an observer.

Trinamul in Malda hurriedly announced the name of Pradip Baskey, a new candidate, in Sarala’s seat. Party workers were also seen wiping out her name from a wall graffiti that had come up in Habibpur area.

Gour Chandra Mondal. Soumya De Sarkar

The fact that people like Guha, known to be a close aide of Mamata Banerjee since her days as a firebrand Opposition leader, and Bhattacharya, who was by Mamata’s side in her anti-land acquisition movement in Singur, have defected to the BJP have given many an impression that discontent over ticket distribution was brewing in Trinamul.

The impact of Trinamul defections to the saffron camp was felt the loudest in Malda district as along with Murmu, 14 members of the Trinamul-run zilla parishad of Malda, led by Sabhadhipati Gour Chandra Mondal, also joined the BJP.

They were accompanied by a number of office-bearers of Trinamul and its frontal organisations of Malda.

“BJP now has majority in Malda Zilla Parishad,” claimed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who coordinated the joining event at the BJP office.

Back in Malda, Trinamul leaders claimed they still had majority in the Zilla Parishad and admitted they were aware of the possibilities of such a defection as Trinamul turncoat Adhikari looked after the party’s affairs in the district for months.

“Most who joined BJP lack mass support. The BJP is desperately trying to purchase elected representatives. But let us make it clear that we have a majority in the Zilla Parishad,” said Mausam Noor, the district Trinamul chief of Malda.

Political veterans in Malda, when asked about the defections, said it will not cause any major impact in poll results of the district.

This is because in Malda has a minority population of around 55 per cent and the saffron camp has been playing the polarisation card to consolidate its votes.

“Out of 12 Assembly seats, election results in seven seats of the district are being decided by the minority population. The saffron camp has started playing the polarisation card by bringing in hardliners like Yogi Adityanath and trying to consolidate votes in the remaining five seats. In such a situation, it is unlikely that these defectors will be able to draw fresh support from the minority-dominated seats,” said an observer.

Along with political entities, Tollywood actress Tanushree Chakraborty also joined the saffron party on Monday.