TMC MLA, 16 Bengal councillors join BJP; Kailash Vijayvargiya says saffron party is first preference for those wanting peace in state

New Delhi: A Trinamool Congress legislator and 15 councilors of the party in West Bengal joined the BJP in New Delhi on Monday. Noapara MLA Sunil Singh, along with the 15 TMC councillors and another Congress councilor, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of general secretary and West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, and senior leader Mukul Roy. Sunil Singh is a relative of MP Arjun Singh, who switched over from the TMC to the BJP just ahead of the recent Lok Sabha polls and won the Barrackpore seat. Roy, once the second-in-command in the TMC after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said 10 legislators from various parties had joined the BJP so far. Leaders, including MLAs and MPs, from various parties in the state have been joining the saffron party for past several months. “The BJP has emerged as a strong player in West Bengal politics and is the first preference for those who want peace and development in the state,” Vijayvargiya said. The BJP leader alleged that democracy had vanished from the state under the Mamata’s leadership.