Days after two party MLAs defected to the Trinamool Congress, the BJP leadership in West Bengal on Wednesday said it has issued legal notices to them.
“The way we have taken action against Mukul Roy, approached Speaker and taken the issue of his defection before the High Court, in a similar manner we have issued notice to Tanmoy Ghosh and Biswajit Das to explain their stand,” said Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Mr. Adhikari pointed out that more than 50 MLAs of the Opposition parties have crossed floor during the regime of the TMC since 2011.
“The Opposition parties then [Left and Congress] did not seriously take up these defections. From the BJP, we can assure that we will take it to its logical conclusion in a democratic manner.” Mr. Adhikari said the two MLAs had not been keeping in touch with the party over the past few months.
Three BJP MLAs have defected to the TMC after the polls. Mr. Roy was the first to do so in June, followed by Tanmoy Ghosh (Bishnupur) on Monday and Biswajit Das (Bagda) on Tuesday.
Brave front
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh tried to put a brave front and said such defections will not affect the party. “Defection is not a new phenomenon. If dozens of MLAs came from the TMC to the BJP before the Assembly polls and a few of them go back to the TMC is not going to affect the party,” he said. The BJP leadership said some MLAs yield to the pressure of the ruling party and alleged that the police are exerting pressure on the MLAs of the Opposition parties.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh targeted Mr. Adhikari and said he was trying to hide his inefficiency by saying the MLAs who defected were not in touch with the BJP for months.
