SP WB unit merges with Trinamool, MLA too switches side

Chand Mohammad, the lone legislator of Samajwadi Party, a constituent of West Bengal's opposition Left Front, today joined Trinamool Congress after merging the state unit with TMC.
"Chand Mohammad who belongs to the original SP unit in the state, joined TMC and merged the party with TMC along with his followers", TMC general secretary Mukul Roy told a press conference here.
He said Chand Mohammad's joining would be helpful in strengthening the party in Congress bastion Murshidabad district where TMC is relatively weak.
Chand Mohammad is a two-time SP MLA from Bhagabangola constituency in Murshidabad district.
Chand Mohammad created a flutter in the Left ranks on Wednesday by attending the special session in connection with the platinum jubilee celebrations of the state assembly which was collectively boycotted by Left Front constituents and Chand had signed in a memorandum in this regard.

Opposition leader Suryakanta Mishra of the CPI(M) said they would "think twice" before letting him Mohammad "sign memoranda" in future, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee praised him for attending the session.

Chand Mohammad joined TMC a day after many leaders of Forward Bloc joined the ruling party in Jalpaiguri district, a stronghold of the Left Front constituent.
Three Congress MLAs had earlier switched over to the ruling party in the past one year.
Several councillors of Congress in different municipalities and also from the Left had in the recent past joined TMC close on the heels of the ruling party sweeping the panchayat polls and also subsequently winning the civic elections.