Silchar | The Trinamool Congress suffered an organisational setback in Assam’s Cachar district with its district president Rajesh Deb, senior leader Mohan Lal Das and 49 other leaders and workers joining the BJP ahead of the upcoming Silchar Municipal Corporation election.

The leaders joined the BJP on Sunday at the party’s Cachar district office in the presence of Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia and Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev. Saikia welcomed the new entrants and described the induction as an expansion of the BJP’s organisational base in the Barak Valley.

He said the new members would contribute to strengthening the party’s organisation and its outreach in the region. Referring to Sushmita Dev’s political activities, Saikia said her association with Assam and the development of the Barak Valley would continue despite her election to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.

“Together, every karyakarta will work for the development of the region, the state and the country,” Saikia said while welcoming the new members. The latest political shift comes less than a month before Silchar’s first municipal corporation election, scheduled to be held on October 3, with counting set for October 6.

The BJP is looking to consolidate its organisational presence in Silchar ahead of the civic polls, while the departure of the TMC’s district president and several party functionaries is a setback for the opposition party’s local organisation.

Sushmita Dev herself switched from the TMC to the BJP in June, adding to the political realignment in the Barak Valley. The latest defections are expected to have a bearing on the TMC’s organisational preparedness as political parties gear up for the first municipal corporation election in Silchar.