Kolkata,  As many as 21 West Bengal Left Front (LF) members from the erstwhile red bastion of East Midnapore district joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday.

The district-level leaders and cadres from Haldia joined the saffron fold in the presence of BJP central leader in-charge of West Bengal Kailash Vijayvargiya and the party's state unit president Dilip Ghosh, MP Locket Chatterjee, Sabyasachi Dutta and others at a programme organised at Ramnagar area.

District Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader and the party's state committee members Ashwini Jana, CPI-M district committee member Arjun Mondal, former district secretariat member Shyamal Maity and many others switched to the BJP creating a major vacuum.

The East Midnapore district used to be known as a Red bastion before the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress stormed to power in 2011.

"People of Bengal have seen all the political parties, like Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front and Trinamool Congress to run the government in the state. I urge people to vote for the BJP to welcome a change in Bengal," said Vijayvargiya.

He also took potshots at the incumbent Trinamool Congress and criticised their corruption even with the cyclone Amphan relief funds given by the Centre. "We do not support the government that encourages corruption with food grains and cut-money," the BJP leader added.

Veteran Trinamool Congress leader Sougata Roy countered Vijayvargiya, saying: "BJP has no rights to criticise the state government. BJP has no leader in Bengal and that is why they are bringing in faces from outside the state. These leaders have no political relevance in Bengal."