New Delhi: Five former TMC leaders on Saturday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Ahead of West Bengal State Assembly election in April-May, the leaders decided to join the BJP in the latest round of defections.

Due to cancellation of Amit Shah’s proposed rally at Howrah on Sunday, the five former TMC leaders scheduled to join in BJP in the presence of Amit Shah, will flown to Delhi and meet Amit Shah for their joining in the party. The TMC leaders met Amit Shah at his home in Delhi along with BJP’s lieutenants for the Bengal fight Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya who announced that they had joined the BJP.

Former TMC leaders Mr. Rajib Banerjee, Ms. Baishali Dalmiya, Mr. Prabir Ghoshal, Mr. Rathin Chakraborti and Mr. Rudranil Ghosh joined BJP today in New Delhi. I am sure their induction will further strengthen BJP’s fight for Sonar Bangla. West Bengal former Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee, who resigned for TMC on Friday, said “Union Home Minister Amit Shah called me up and said he would like to handover the flag to me himself, so he is sending down a chartered plane to fly me to the capital”.

Others who left Kolkata by the 4 pm flight are Trinamool MLA from Bali, Baishali Dalmiya, Uttarpara MLA Prabir Ghoshal, Howrah mayor Rathin Chakraborty, and former MLA and five-term civic chief of Ranaghat Partha Sarathi Chatterjee. Sunday’s mega BJP rally at Dumurjola in Howrah will take place as scheduled, though Amit Shah is likely to join only virtually. Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani will be there, along with other state leaders and the new entrants. The BJP has openly announced a strategy to poach as many leaders from the Trinamool as possible ahead of the elections.