BJP suffers setback in West Bengal as two MLA's set to rejoin TMC

BJP Lok Sabha MP and former West Bengal BJP Vice-President, Arjun Singh on Sunday rejoined TMC in the presence of party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata. Singh said that he had switched over the BJP in 2019 after misunderstandings with Trinamool leadership.

“But after joining BJP, I faced hurdles in acting independently as an elected Lok Sabha member from the state. I tried hard to settle the jute price issue and there too I faced hurdles. So, I decided to join back…,” he said.

In addition, his son Pawan Kumar Singh, who is currently the BJP legislator Bhatpara Assembly constituency, is all set to follow his father's footsteps.

With this, the BJP's tally in West Bengal Assembly is now all set to come down to below 70.

The BJP had 77 MLAs in the last assembly election but so far seven have left the party, leaving the total at 70. The party has been facing factionalism in the state unit with many expressing their displeasure at the functioning of new chief, Sukanta Majumdar.

The party's decline in the state began soon after the election results were announced as many felt that the party leaders did not stand by workers who were attacked allegedly by TMC workers in the post poll violence.

To recall, in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP got 77 legislators. But immediately after that two of its MLAs -- namely Nishith Pramanik and Dr Jagannath Sarkar -- who were also sitting Lok Sabha members, resigned as MLAs to retain their Parliamentary chairs, thus bringing down the tally immediately to 75.

After then five sitting BJP legislators joined Trinamool Congress one after another to bring down the tally to the existing figure of 70. Now if Pawan Kumar Singh follows the same example, the tally will come down to 69.

Arjun Singh was a four- time Trinamool Congress MLA from the Bhatpara Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district from 2011 to 2019.

However, as he was denied the Lok Sabha nomination from Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency by the Trinamool Congress leadership in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he joined the saffron camp.

BJP fielded him as the party candidate from Barrackpore Lok Sabha in 2019 and Singh got elected defeating Trinamool Congress' sitting MP, Dinesh Trivedi by a margin of little less than 15,000 votes.

By-elections for the Bhatpara Assembly happened in 2019, Pawan Kumar Singh got elected on behalf of the BJP. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, he got re-elected from the same constituency.

(with inputs from IANS)