Seventeen Councillors of Darjeeling Municipality, all from Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday.
The leaders were inducted into BJP at the party headquarter in New Delhi in the presence of general secretary Kailash Vijayavargiya and senior leader Mukul Roy.
Speaking on the occasion, Kailash Vijayavargiya said, "They are all Councillors of Darjeeling Municipality."
BJP leader Mukul Roy said that with 17 of the Councillors joining the party, BJP has become the majority party in Darjeeling Municipality.
"There are 32 seats in the Darjeeling Municipal Corporation. One has died while another has resigned. Today, 17 Councillors joined BJP. From today, BJP has become the majority party in the municipality," Mukul Roy said while addressing a press conference.
Asserting that "fight for democracy in West Bengal" was still on, the former Trinamool Congress leader said, "The police is after them on the orders of Mamata Banerjee. We are going to protest against the "police raj" within two-three days."
GJM was an ally of BJP but it broke ties with the party in January this year, just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
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