Pritikana Biswas, a former CPM councillor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC), joined Trinamul on Wednesday, with erosion in Left Front in Darjeeling district Left Front after senior CPM leader Asok Bhattacharya, the former MLA of Siliguri, decided not to participate in electoral politics after he lost in the Assembly elections.

Biswas, the former councillor of ward 44, is the third such former councillor of the SMC where the Left was in power till last year, to join Trinamul in less than a month.

Last month, Left leaders Rambhajan Mahato, the former deputy mayor and an RSP councillor, and Kamal Agarwal, a former mayor in council of the civic body from the CPM, switched to Trinamul.

“Our primary objective is to stop communal politics of the BJP and expedite development of Siliguri. We think Trinamul is the right place where all these purposes will be served and that’s why I joined Trinamul,” Biswas told journalists after taking the party flag from party’s senior leader Gautam Deb at Darjeeling district party office here on Wednesday.

Ujjwal Das, a former local committee leader of Darjeeling district CPM, also accompanied her at Trinamul office and took the party flag.

Trinamul sources said a number of councillors and leaders from the Opposition are in queue and will soon shift base to Trinamul.

“People want to join hands with Trinamul and be a part of the development work of the state government under the leadership of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. It is a continuous process in politics and more will join in future,” Deb told the media after the event.

Left Front leaders were quick to react.

“It is very surprising that Trinamul, after winning the elections with a huge mandate, has now shifted its focus from Covid management and is hunting Opposition leaders. They will get a fitting reply in the upcoming civic polls. There won’t be any more defections,” said Jibesh Sarkar, Darjeeling district secretary of CPM.