Around 150 tribal residents of South Dinajpur joined the BJP on Sunday afternoon and claimed they deserted Trinamul to protest the recent incident of “dandi”, a ritual four women of their community in the district were forced to perform for joining the BJP for a day.

At a function in Bansihari block, 35 tribal families — around 150 residents — received the party flag from senior BJP leaders.

“For the past 10 years, we voted Trinamul but the party has not done anything for tribals living in our area and the district. Also, some women in our community were humiliated by Trinamul leaders in the name of atonement,” said Biplab Tudu, one of the deserters.

After the “dandi” incident, tribal outfits had observed a 12-hour strike, seeking steps against all those involved in the act.

Protests by the tribal community who form around 17 per cent of South Dinajpur district, made Trinamul resort to damage control. Trinamul removed Pradipta Chakraborty, district president of Trinamul's women's wing, and replaced her with tribal leader Snehalata Hembram.

Last week, Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee visited the district and met with three of the four women who performed the ritual. Within hours, Pradipta was removed as vice-chairperson from Balurghat municipality.

“But it seems that some tribal people are still angry with Trinamul,” said an observer.

Budhrai Tudu, a BJP MLA in the district, and Swarup Choudhury, the BJP district president, welcomed the new entrants.

Trinamul leaders denied that the defectors were Trinamul supporters.

“Some families with the Left joined the BJP. None of them had been with us. The BJP is making propaganda,” said Subhash Chaki, Trinamul district vice-president.