Krishna Kalyani, the Raiganj MLA who won the Assembly polls on a BJP ticket, but quit the party on October 1, joined Trinamul on Wednesday.

By doing so, he became the fifth MLA to defect from the saffron camp since this summer elections, lowering the BJP’s Bengal Assembly tally of legislators to 70.

On Wednesday, the MLA told journalists that “no self-respecting individual” could work in the BJP.

Reacting to his decision, state BJP chief and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar said that the people of Raiganj would give Kalyani a befitting reply in the future.

Kalyani had left Trinamul to join the BJP ahead of this year’s Assembly elections.

However, within months differences arose between him and the party leadership in North Dinajpur district. He finally quit the BJP on October 1, citing differences with the saffron party’s Raiganj MP Debasree Chaudhuri.