Kolkata: In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party, its legislator from Alipurduar in northern West Bengal Suman Kanjilal crossed over to West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday.

In a tweet, the Trinamool said Kanjilal joined its fold “rejecting the anti-people policies and the hate-laden agenda of the BJP”.

Trinamool’s All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee formally welcomed Kanjilal to his party by draping him with a scarf at his office.

“yet another BJP MLA in Bengal realises that the BJP has no intention to serve the people,” the Trinamool said.

Kanjilal is the sixth BJP legislator to join the Trinamool since the state Assembly polls in 2021.

The BJP won 77 of the 294 seats in the state Assembly in 2021 to emerge as the main opposition party.

The victors included two Lok Sabha members, who both resigned later. In the by-polls, the Trinamool snatched both the seats from the saffron outfit.

Though on paper the BJP now has 75 MLAs, for all practical purpose the number has now gone down to 69.

(With UNI inputs)