Kolkata North seat: Workers defect from TMC

Kolkata: Rejecting the Opposition’s claim that defection of its party workers in the midst of elections point towards weakening of the party, Trinamool Congress (TMC) stood firm in its belief that its chairperson Mamata Banerjee is the real candidate for all 42 seats in Bengal.

It reportedly came to light that several TMC members have defected to Congress in ward 62 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The ward is said to be under the Chowringhee Assembly constituency which comes under Kolkata North Lok Sabha seat. The majority population from this belongs to the Muslim community.

Commenting on the development, BJP’s Kolkata North candidate, Tapas Roy, who was formerly a TMC MLA, opined that Trinamool’s minority votes are getting divided and questioned if such an erosion continues then who will vote for the party. He also predicted that the TMC candidate from the seat Sudip Bandopadhyay will come third in this seat.

Roy and Bandopadhyay have been rattling sabres before the poll began and this was a primary reason why REoy switched to BJP. Roy has alleged that Sudip was in touch with the BJP when the house of TMC was torn between veteran and young leaders. He claimed the BJP refused to entertain Sudip.

However, the TMC leader Kunal Ghosh is learnt to have dismissed the proposition that the defection will weaken the party.

He is learnt to have said that candidates are irrelevant here since it is Mamata Banerjee who is the face in all the 42 seats and people will vote for her.