The West Bengal BJP, on Wednesday, claimed that 38 Trinamool Congress MLAs have "good relations" with the party.
Party leader Mithun Chakraborty said more than a dozen of these MLAs are in direct contact with the saffron party.
In the 294-member West Bengal assembly, the TMC has 216 MLAs. while the BJP has 75.
"Do you want to hear breaking news? At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs have very good relations with us, out of which 21 are in direct contact with me," the actor-turned-politician has been quoted as saying.
Chakraborty said the BJP is in power in 18 states, and the party's flag will "fly high in a few other states very soon".
“The BJP will not stop its fight in West Bengal. If free and fair polls are held in the state today, the party will form the next government,” he said.
The BJP had managed to woo a number of TMC leaders, including former minister and close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari, before the assembly elections in the state. However, despite the defections, the TMC managed to retain power in the state.
Chakraborty himself was a Rajya Sabha MP for the TMC before switching over to the saffron fold in 2021.
Reacting to Chakraborty's claims, the TMC said he is "trying to fool the people by making false claims". "Such statements are an attempt to fool the masses. It has no relation with reality," TMC MP Santanu Sen said.
—With PTI inputs
