In a fresh setback to Mamata Banerjee heading to the West Bengal assembly elections, Trinamool Congress’ Sarala Murmu will join the BJP on Monday despite getting a ticket from the Habibpur constituency. The TMC, in a statement, announced that it is changing its candidate from the constituency, but cited ‘ill health’ as the reason.

Murmu, a former Malda Zilla Parishad sabhadhipati from Habibpur, was a new name in the TMC candidate list announced on March 5. Her switch to the BJP heralds a new trend as this is the first case of a TMC member who got a ticket shifting to the BJP, which till now was only poaching candidates left out by the Trinamool.

The TMC has named Pradeep Baskey as the new candidate from the seat. “All India Trinamool Congress would like to inform that the candidate for Malda District’s Habibpur Assembly Constituency had to be replaced due to her ill health,” the TMC said in its statement.

This is a breaking news story. More details are awaited.