Another Trinamool MLA joins BJP

New Delhi:West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Wednesday suffered another jolt as one of its prominent Muslim faces and MLA joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Monirul Islam, elected from Labpur constituency, and several office bearers of the Trinamool Congress in Birbhum district joined the saffron camp at the BJP headquarters here in the presence of BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and senior leader Mukul Roy.

They include Gadadhar Hazra, a former Trinamool MLA, Asif Iqbal and Nimai Das. Iqbal and Das are district office bearers of the party.

After their formal induction, Vijayvargiya accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of practising politics of "terror" in the state and claimed she had lost the faith of the people as well party cadres.

"People of West Bengal have now faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they feel he can do all round development of the state," he said.

On Tuesday, three MLAs -- two of the Trinamool and one from the CPI-M -- besides over 60 Trinamool councillors joined the BJP here in the wake of the Trinamool's poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections.