Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, facing a slew of defections ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, is going all guns blazing against leaders of the Trinamool Congress who deserted the party to join the BJP. Addressing a gathering of TMC workers at Alipurduar in north Bengal on February 03, Mamata said that those who want to leave the TMC should do so at the earliest opportunity possible. She said that if a person is in the party, he has to work as a disciplined soldier.

Also Read: Evolution of Anti-Defection laws in India-  an overview

Coming down hard at her former colleague and cabinet minister Rajib Banerjee, Mamata said that the person who had himself indulged in corruption is now lecturing others. Rajib Banerjee recently joined the BJP. Without naming Rajib Banerjee who was the Forest Minister in the TMC cabinet, she claimed that irregularities have been detected in the recruitment of Bana Sahayaks under the forest department during his tenure. She said that the TMC will investigate everything in the matter.

Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC

This development comes after the scathing criticisms of TMC directed at BJP for the grave mistake made by the Saffron party while singing the National Anthem. In one of the latest escalations of the battle between BJP and TMC as elections approach, TMC MP and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee had shared a video on his Twitter attacking the saffron party for ‘insulting’ the national anthem. “Those preaching about Patriotism & Nationalism cannot even sing our National Anthem correctly. This is the party which claims to uphold India’s honour and pride! SHAMEFUL! Will @narendramodi, @AmitShah, @BJP4India apologise for this “Anti-National” Act?” tweeted Banerjee with a hashtag #BJPInsultsNationalAnthem.

The leaders seen in the video present at the stage included union ministers Smriti Irani, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy. Former TMC leaders who have recently joined BJP including Rajib Banerjee and Baishali Dalmiya were also present during the rally. BJP leader and former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh can be heard in the video shared by Banerjee singing a wrong line while reciting the national anthem.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Mamata Banerjee assured the workers that those who have switched political allegiance and have joined the BJP will be defeated in the assembly polls and their shops will be shut down after the election.

The CM’s remark did not go down well with the former TMC leader. Rajib Banerjee alleged that efforts had been made by several TMC leaders to pressure him to recruit only TMC workers as ‘Bana Sahayaks’. He claimed that though he had informed the CM, no action was taken by her in this regard. He also claimed that to ensure transparent recruitment of Bana Sahayaks, he had handed the recruitment power to a board.

This is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee has taken on TMC defectors. Before Rajib Banerjee, CM’s close aide and heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari had resigned from the TMC to join the saffron party. Adhikari had dared Mamata Banerjee to contest from Nandigram, a challenge which was accepted by the CM. Adhikari has repeatedly said that he will ensure Banerjee’s defeat from Nandigram. So far, over 40 TMC leaders have crossed over to the BJP ahead of the state-polls scheduled to be held around April-May this year.

Despite the defections, the confidence of TMC remains buoyed by the huge response to the Duare Sarkar camps, and the huge number of people gathering at the TMC rallies. The strong stand taken by CM Mamata Banerjee with regards to the farmers’ protests has also gathered a brisk volume of support.