Overview

• Former two-time Matigara-Naxalbari MLA Shankar Malakar formally joined the Trinamool Congress on June 4 in Kolkata.
• Malakar said he switched parties because TMC is the only force capable of countering the BJP’s communal politics in Bengal.
• His defection highlights Congress’s dwindling influence in West Bengal, where its vote share has fallen to just 3%.
• Senior TMC leaders Subrata Bakshi and Aroop Biswas oversaw the induction, with Biswas suggesting further opposition defections could follow.
• Last month former BJP MP John Barla joined TMC, strengthening the party’s organisational base in North Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.