The “principal organiser” of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in Malda and about 200 supporters joined the Trinamul Congress on Tuesday, a day ahead of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the district where Muslims constitute around 55 per cent of the population.

The AIMIM, however, termed the induction as a “fake show”.

Sabir Ahmed and the supporters joined Bengal’s ruling party at a programme attended by Malda district Trinamul president Mausam Benazir Noor and senior leader Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury.

“Sabir Ahmed, who is the AIMIM’s key functionary in Malda, and one associate each from 10 blocks in the district joined Trinamul,” said Noor.

The Hyderabad-based AIMIM headed by Asaduddin Owaisi had already declared that the party would contest the coming Assembly elections and field candidates in districts dominated by the minority community.

Ahmed said he didn’t have any “official designation” in the AIMIM.

“I and my associates were, however, the principal organisers of the AIMIM in Malda and worked for months to develop our party. Around 200 followers of us also switched to Trinamul today,” he said.

Imran Solanki, a spokesperson for the AIMIM, said Ahmed and the associates had no connection with the party. “Trinamul is trying to deceive people. We suspect Trinamul is bringing in some of its less known workers into public and presenting them as AIMIM leaders.”

“Such tactics to win support of the minority community will not work,” Solanki said over the phone.

It was only 24 hours back that Trinamul inducted Bechu Sarkar who, the party claimed, was the district president of the BJP’s minority wing.

BJP district vice-president Ajay Ganguly, however, said Sarkar was a leader of the Minority Morcha in 1996 and had been inactive for years.

“We have a new committee of the Minority Morcha with a different person as the district president,” said Ganguly.