Two days after the chairman and a number of councillors of Halishahar municipality returned to the Trinamool after briefly flirting with the BJP, the Mamata Banerjee led party took another step in regaining the political turf in the district by roping in the quintet of Kanchrapara councillors.
These civic representatives had joined the BJP on May 28, resulting in the BJP capturing he board and beginning the exodus of Trinamool leaders and public representatives to the saffron outfit.
Welcoming the councillors back, state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim said the Trinamool now had 10 councillors in the 24-seat Kanchrapara municipality.
"Three more councillors are also coming to our fold, and that means a majority for us," he said.
Hakim alleged that the councillors had been "threatened and coerced" by the "father-son duo" (BJP leader Mukul Roy and his MLA son Subhranghshu Roy) to take credit before BJP chief Amit Shah.
"Now everything has gone waste. Amit Shah will not give them any importance now. We are welcoming these councillors to our party from the core of our heart," said Hakim.
However, BJP national General Secretary and West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya alleged that the councillors were victims of "state-sponsored strong-arm tactics".
"Anti-social elements were being sent to their houses. Police cases were filed against them. But at heart, they are still with BJP. In the coming days, a big Trinamool group would join BJP in protest against Trinamool's autocracy," he said.
( With inputs from IANS )