Kolkata, Feb 5 : Ahead the forthcoming panchayat polls in West Bengal, the BJP on Sunday received a major jolt as another party MLA shifted to the ruling Trinamool Congress.

On Sunday afternoon, BJP legislator from Alipurduar constituency in Alipurduar district Suman Kanjilal reached the office of Trinamool's national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee in south Kolkata and joined the ruling party.

Banerjee himself handed over the party flag to Kanjilal - the sixth BJP legislator and the third from north Bengal to join Trinamool after the 2021 assembly elections. With this, the total number of BJP MLAs in the Assembly has come down to 68.