Dilip Ghosh has been made a national Vice President of the BJP.
Two days after BJP MP Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool, the boss of BJP's Bengal unit Dilip Ghosh - known for frequent controversial comments - has been replaced.
The 57-year-old has been made a national Vice President of the party in a wider reorganisation of its leadership. BJP's MP from Balurghat in north Bengal, 41-year-old Sukanta Majumdar has been asked to take over as the Bengal unit chief.
The reshuffle in the Bengal BJP comes two days after the party's MP from Asansol, Babul Supriyo switched sides.
Since the Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year in which the BJP had targeted 200 seats but got only 77, four MLAs have already returned to Trinamool.
Dr Majumdar, a professor of Botany who has risen through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ranks, said, "Dilip Ghosh has steered BJP to its current position as a strong opposition party in Bengal. He has made a significant contribution to its growth. I hope to take the party forward from that point."
Dilip Ghosh has congratulated Dr Majumdar. "Mr JP Nadda called this afternoon and said I am being moved to the national stage. I think this is a recognition of my work and contribution. I had also said BJP leadership in Bengal needs parivartan to meet the new demands of society and the party."
But Mr Supriyo, After joining Trinamool on Saturday, publicly said Dilip Ghosh, infamous for outrageous and controversial statements, was to blame for the BJP's debacle in the elections.
The most recent high-profile defection was of Mr Supriyo, a Union Minister till recently who contested the state polls unsuccessfully and then was benched from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.
Before him, three MLAs - Biswajit Das, Tanmoy Ghosh, Soumen Roy - jumped to the Trinamool in the last one month within six days.
Earlier, in June, former Trinamool strategist Mukul Roy who joined BJP in 2017 and won from the Krishnanagar Uttar Assembly seat in April, returned to mothership Trinamool.
The reverse defections have fanned murmurs within the BJP about the induction of a number of turncoats from the Trinamool ahead of the polls.