Trinamool suffers another political jolt; 5 TMC leaders set to join BJP with supporters

In another blow for Mamata Banerjee, five more Trinamool leaders are set to join BJP on Wednesday along with their supporters, report sources. This development comes after four ministers skipped the cabinet meeting on Tuesday - including forest minister Rajib Banerjee, who has also called out the party openly. TMC heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, along with 6 MLAs, 1 MP, and 16 other grassroots leaders joined the saffron party's folds in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah's presence on Sunday in Midnapore.

Five TMC Netas joining BJP (as per sources):

• Dr. Narayan Chakraborty, Scientist 
• Sujit Pramanick, 2-time TMC Candidate, Gosaba Assembly
• Arup Chaudhuri, President, West Bengal Outdoor Advertisement Association 
• Aveek Bose, Advocate, High Court 
• Debjani Ganguly, Media Professional 
• Biswajit Sarkar, Baguihati Businessman

Asansol MLA Jitendra Tiwari does a U-turn; withdraws resignation, returns to Mamata's camp

TMC leaders switching parties

Apart from Adhikari, Rabi-Ul-Islam (Legal advisor of Asansol Municipal Corporation), Aparesh Santra (Vice President of Patashpur-2 Block), Silbhadra Datta (TMC MLA from Barrackpore), Kabir-Ul-Islam (TMC minority cell general secretary), Abhijit Acharya (Vice-President of Paschim Bardhaman),  Col Diptangshu Choudhury (South Bengal State Transport Corporation) and Banashri Maity (Uttar Kanthi MLA) quit the TMC and skipped to the BJP. Asansol civic body chief - Tiwari, who had recently slammed the state government for depriving the industrial town of Asansol of central funds for political reasons, quit the party - but later returned to the party folds, apologizing. Meanwhile, Rajib Banerjee who had openly said that loyal party workers in TMC are being "overlooked", has maintained that he is with the Trinamool Congress.

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Suvendu quits TMC

On December 17, Suvendu Adhikari officially quit the Trinamool party on Thursday. Tendering his resignation to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, he had also quit from his MLA post - which has now been accepted by Speaker Biman Banerjee. Adhikari - the mastermind of 2007 Nandigram agitation - holds influence in about 35 assembly constituencies in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram and Birbhum districts. He had been creating rumours for the past few months by holding rallies not under Trinamool flag or its supremo - Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's posters, and had skipped cabinet meetings. After the breakdown of talks, Adhikari resigned from the cabinet post of Transport minister after quitting as Hooghly River Bridge Commission chairman, saying it was 'difficult to work in TMC'.

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BJP's Bengal battle

Meanwhile, the saffron party is gearing for a tough battle in Bengal - aiming to attain more than 200 seats, while not fielding a CM face yet. The BJP had already politically divided Bengal into five parts - North Bengal, Rath Bang (South Western District), Nabadwip, Medinipur and Kolkata, handpicking Shivprakash, Sunil Deodhar, Dushyant Gautam, Bhikubhai Dalsania, Ravindra Raju,  Vinod Sonkar, Harish Dwivedi to ta work on booth levels in these regions. With over 65,000 booth committees and 14,000 Shakti Kendra constituted, the BJP has appointed five veterans as central observers - with the final call to be taken by Amit Shah. West Bengal goes to polls in April-May 2021, where Mamata Banerjee eyes a third consecutive term.

4 of Mamata Banerjee's ministers skip cabinet meeting; Rajib Banerjee next to quit TMC?