“Another wicket down”, BJP Bengal MLA joins TMC

In another jolt to the saffron party, BJP Bengal MLA Harakali Protiher joined the Trinamool Congress on Thursday. He became the seventh MLA to defect to TMC since Bengal assembly election 2021. Protiher joined TMC in the presence of MP and party National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee. He is the sitting BJP MLA from Katalpur Assembly Constituency in Bankura.

Welcoming Protiher, TMC posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), "Today, in the presence of Nat'l GS Abhishek Banerjee, Harakali Protiher, BJP MLA from Katulpur Assembly constituency, Bankura, joined hands with us. This move reflects a resounding commitment to serving the people and strengthening the unwavering ideals of Ma, Mati, and Manush. We wholeheartedly welcome him to the Trinamool Congress family. With this union, we stand united in our mission to bring positive change and progress to our communities. Together, we pledge to work tirelessly, hand in hand, for the betterment of Bengal"

Abhishek Banerjee had previously warned that several BJP MLAs were interested in joining his party and the wait was to open the “floodgates”. He had called it his response to “harassment” of opposition parties at the hands of central agencies including the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, and Income Tax. Incidentally, the joining happened on a day when ED raided the house of the sitting TMC minister from Mamata Banerjee's cabinet, Jyotipriya Mallick in connection with alleged irregularities in ration distribution. Mamata Banerjee termed the raids “vendetta politics”. She also accused ED of trying to procure information about Abhishek Banerjee “from a period which is even before his birth”. She called BJP’s malafide intentions and dirty politics.

“Do you want to dare us? It has been a long, shall we open the gate slightly and see how many come from the BJP and join us? The more you try to suppress us with the use of central agencies, the more you will perish” Abhishek Banerjee had dared BJP on September 13 after walking out of more than 9 hours of examination by Ed in connection with alleged irregularities in school recruitments.

Previously the BJP MLAs who switched over to TMC included - 1. Alipurduar MLA Suman Kanjilal, 2. Krishnanagar North MLA and BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy, 3. Kaliaganj MLA Soumen Roy, 4. Raiganj MLA Krishna Kalyani, 5. Bagda MLA Biswajit Das and 6. Bishnupur MLA Tanmoy Ghosh.​