Rajib Banerjee gets Z category security in Bengal after switching over to BJP from TMC

Shortly after switching over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee has been given Z category security in the state and Y+ in other parts of the country. 

Banerjee had joined the BJP on Saturday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, a day after quitting the TMC. Joining the saffron party along with him were other disgruntled leaders, namely - Baishali Dalmiya, Prabir Ghoshal, Rathin Chakraborti, and Rudranil Ghosh. 

The security cover for Banerjee comes amid rising political violence witnessed in the state, in the run up for assembly polls. Incidents of clashes between the workers of the two parties, that result in injuries have become more rampant in the backdrop of intensified election rallies. 

Banerjee, who was the forest minister in Mamata Banerjee's cabinet and represented the Domjur Assembly seat in Howrah, had resigned from the ruling TMC and as MLA on Friday. He is the third cabinet minister to quit the party in the last two months ahead of West Bengal Assembly elections due April-May this year. 

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TMC's high-level exits

Earlier, West Bengal political heavyweight and a former close aide of the CM, Suvendu Adhikari switched to the BJP. Joining him were TMC MP Sunil Mondal and nine sitting MLAs. The second minister to resign from the TMC was Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who wished to quit politics.

Undeterred by the mass exodus, the TMC, which has been facing dissent from a number of leaders ahead of the crucial election, said that those who are leaving do not have long political history. The BJP, which seeks to unseat the Mamata Banerjee government in the upcoming elections, has exuded confidence about forming the next government in Bengal with more than 200 seats.

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