In yet another jolt to the West Bengal BJP, TMC turncoat Rajib Banerjee returned to the ruling party today during TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s public meeting in Tripura, reported news agency ANI. This comes days after Banerjee ruffled feathers with his praise for Mamata Banerjee on her victory in Bhabanipur by-election.

The BJP’s Bengal unit was upset over Banerjee being named as “special invitee” to the BJP National Executive despite him criticising the BJP’s opposition to Mamata Banerjee and distancing himself from the party after his defeat at the Domjur assembly seat in Howrah in the March-April polls. Banerjee had won the seat twice since 2011 when the TMC came to power for the first time.

In the run-up to the 2021 state assembly polls, as the BJP launched an aggressive campaign to dethrone Mamata Banerjee, scores of Trinamool Congress members left the ruling party. These included senior leaders like Suvendu Adhikari, who is now the leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, besides former ministers Rajib Banerjee and Bachhu Hansda, former deputy speaker Sonali Guha, and former MLAs Sarala Murmu, Amal Acharya, and Dipendu Biswas.

However, the BJP ended up losing the elections, with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee leading her party to a third consecutive landslide in the state.

Ever since, many of the turncoats have made public appeals for return to the Trinamool Congress. These include Guha, Hansda, Murmu, Acharya and Biswas. In letters to CM Banerjee and social media posts, these leaders have spoken of their “disillusionment” with the BJP and their “remorse”.