Kolkata, July 9 -- Weeks after resigning from the Rajya Sabha, former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs Sushmita Dev, Prakash Chik Baraik and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday in the presence of West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya at the party office in Salt Lake.

Welcoming the three leaders into the party, Bhattacharya said they had reposed faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"For 34 years, there was the rule of the Left Front, followed by that of the Trinamool Congress. The politics practised in West Bengal for so long defied and rejected our federal structure; instead of cooperating with the Centre, a path of confrontation was adopted, causing all development to stall. Ag...