TMC's veiled threat to leaders who joined BJP, says ‘will have to face consequences'

Kolkata, June 23: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday issued a stern warning to panchayats and municipalities members of the party who joined the BJP and said "they will have to face the consequences."

On Tuesday (June 18), a Trinamool Congress MLA and 12 party councillors joined the BJP. TMC Bongaon MLA Biswajit Das, 12 TMC councillors joined the BJP. A day before that, Noapara MLA Sunil Singh, along with the 15 TMC councillors, joined the BJP in presence of West Bengal incharge Kailash Vijayvargiya, and senior leader Mukul Roy.

"A very few members from panchayats and municipalities have joined the BJP because of their ulterior motives and selfish vested interests. They have done this with the hope that their misdeeds and crimes will be washed away. They are mistaken," ANI quoted a TMC as saying.

"If there has been wrongdoing on anyone's part, they will have to face the consequences even though they have the backing of the BJP," it added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on June 18 came down heavily on the defectors, calling them "garbage" and "traitors".

On May 29, the BJP welcomed into its fold three Bengal MLAs, including Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu Roy, and over 60 councillors, a majority from the TMC.

Terming such leaders as "greedy and corrupt", Mamata had said the BJP was "collecting garbage". The TMC supremo also said she would be replacing the "traitors" with "dedicated members" and asked those "undecided about joining the BJP" to leave her party at the earliest.

During the Lok Sabha elections campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in one of his speeches in West Bengal, had said that over 40 TMC legislators were in touch with the BJP.