KAILASHAHAR, November 23 (TIWN): After the recent multicrore scams of the state came to light a total of 117 members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) on Sunday parted ways with the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Srinathpur Panchyat at Kailashahar.

The members, including former CPI (M) leader Azhar Ali and others are well linked with the CPI(M)   joined the BJP at a convention held at Srinathpur Panchyat area in  Kailashahar.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State committee secretary Bhagaban Das welcomed the CPI(M) leaders by handing over the BJP party flag.

Bhagaban Das said the decision by the members to leave the party showed the “ideological disarray” in the CPI (M), and the growing acceptance of the BJP in the State. The BJP, he said, had sensed the antipathy within the CPI (M) immediately after the Lok Sabha polls as several of its active members had voted for the BJP candidates.

The CPI (M) had “lost its relevance” as most of its leaders had moved away from the party’s core ideological moorings, he said. This drift had created disgruntlement among its committed workers.

“Such dis-satisfied members are looking to the BJP. The party will continue to raise issues concerning the poor and the minority people,” he said.