Two prominent tribal faces of Trinamul in the Dooars, Nagrakata MLA Sukra Munda of Jalpaiguri and former Alipurduar MP Dasrath Tirkey, joined the BJP in Midnapore on Saturday in the mass exodus led by Mamata Banerjee’s former minister and colleague Suvendu Adhikari.

Trinamul insiders said that for the past few weeks, Munda and Tirkey were discontented over the party’s decision to approve Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Bimal Gurung’s support of Mamata Banerjee, especially as Gurung stands firm on his separate statehood demand.

In the Dooars and Terai, a strong sentiment against Gorkhaland prevails among the tribal population.

“I decided to quit Trinamul as many of us could no longer work because of the series of changes in the style of functioning of the party. Earlier, Didi ran the party in a different manner. These days, it seems some others are making decisions,” said Tirkey.

Munda said over the phone that he faced neglect from party leaders for years.

“People voted for me but whenever I approached state ministers, I was made to wait for hours. Nothing was done for my constituency. The party went on ignoring me and never gave me a chance to share my opinion on various issues,” said the Nagrakata MLA.

Gurung, who resurfaced in Calcutta in October after three years, and reached Siliguri early this month, spoke on separate statehood while supporting Mamata at public rallies in Siliguri and Birpara. On Friday, at an event in Odlabari in the Dooars, Gurung even proposed a Trinamul candidate for the Malbazar Assembly seat.

Mamata, speaking at a public meeting in Jalpaiguri earlier this week, had also said it was only her party that could come up with a “permanent political solution” for the hills, borrowing the term coined by the BJP.

“Gurung’s remarks and endorsement of his support from Trinamul’s highest levels put these tribal leaders under pressure. They had to answer to their supporters who are vehemently against separate statehood,” said an observer.

Trinamul district president K.K. Kalyani tried to scotch Gurung’s remarks on the Malbazar candidacy. “Whatever he said is his personal opinion. We are sending a letter to the state leadership saying that a Scheduled Tribe candidate will be fielded from Malbazar.”

Among others who joined BJP from north Bengal include Dipali Biswas, Trinamul MLA of Gazole in Malda. In the 2016 state elections, Biswas had been elected on a CPM ticket but she defected to join Trinamul. On Saturday, she left Trinamul for BJP.

Satyendranath Roy, the former Trinamul MLA of Gangarampur (in South Dinajpur), Kartick Pal and Ashish Dutta (former civic heads in North Dinajpur and Alipurduar) and some other district leaders also joined the BJP.

Prafulla Burman, a district vice-president of Trinamul and the husband of zilla parishad sabhadhipati Kabita Burman, denied joining the BJP.

“BJP leaders announced my name at the public rally in Midnapore. This is nothing but a political ploy to try and malign my image. I have asked my party leaders to take legal steps against BJP,” Burman told journalists.

In the evening, some BJP supporters protested in some areas of Kumargram block of Alipurduar against the inclusion of Dasrath Tirkey. The former MP, who had also been an MLA, had not done anything for the region during his tenure, they alleged.