Six Congress members of the Chari-Anantapur panchayat in Malda’s Kaliachak III block and around 700 party workers joined the Trinamool Congress on Sunday.
This comes a few days after the defection of Mausam Noor, a Rajya Sabha member who left the Trinamool for the Congress.
The defectors include Shahanara Bibi, Habu Mandal, Ashok Mandal, Shankari Mandal, Tajinara Bibi and Kazimul Sheikh.
Chandana Sarkar, the Trinamool MLA of Baishnabnagar, and senior block-level leaders welcomed them.
District Trinamool leaders claimed that such defections would weaken the Congress’s presence in the district.
“We believe Trinamool is the only political party capable of effectively fighting the BJP,” said Shahanara Bibi.
“There is only one party with credible political strength against the BJP, and that is Trinamool. Those who believed that the departure of one person would have a political impact should now understand the reality. The Congress has become politically insignificant,” Sarkar said.
The Congress dismissed the defections, alleging coercion and inducement.
“These members were either threatened or lured into joining the Trinamool. Such defections will have no political impact,” said Arjun Haldar, a district Congress leader.