Trinamool Congress MLA and sports minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla has resigned from his post in the government and the party to pursue a career in cricket, a decision that comes just months ahead of the assembly election in West Bengal and weeks after a senior minister, Suvendu Adhikari, quit the party and joined the BJP along with a dozen other MLAs. 

With a raft of local leaders joining the BJP, the party is priming itself to replace Trinamool Congress in West Bengal in this year's election.

At the launch of the Trinamool's election campaign last month, Banerjee had said leaders who have left the party at a critical time did so after profiting from the party's success but failing to remain loyal. "We will stand with people and fight with them. That is our promise," she said.