Will Mamata Banerjee government survive till 2021? No, says BJP leader

Kolkata, May 29: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has predicted that Mamata Banerjee's government in Bengal will not complete its full term till 2021.

"I think Vidhan Sabha elections will be held within six months to one year in West Bengal. The current government will not be able to continue until 2021. There is a lot of dissatisfaction in TMC. The TMC government running with the help of police and CID," BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said.

Sinha's statement comes just a day after three MLAs (two from TMC) and 50-60 Councillors joined BJP in presence of party's National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Three West Bengal MLAs, including BJP leader Mukul Roy's son Subhrangshu Roy, and over 50 municipal councillors, most of them from the Trinamool Congress, joined the saffron party Tuesday as it works to consolidate its position in the state following its impressive show there in Lok Sabha polls.

The TMC had won 211 of the assembly's 294 seats in 2016. The BJP had won only three seats, but has since emerged as the principal challenger to her. A party needs to win at least 10 per cent of seats to be officially recognised as the main opposition party.

With over 50 councillors joining the BJP, the party has got a majority in at least three municipal councils.

Mukul Roy is seen to be instrumental in engineering the defection of TMC leaders to the BJP and, political watchers believe, he is one of the key architects of the party's best ever Lok Sabha election show in the state, where Banerjee is in power since 2011.

In the polls, the TMC's tally fell to 22 seats from 34, while the BJP's zoomed to 18 from two.