They were rewarded by their new party with election tickets for switching allegiance. However, jumping sides backfired for most of the turncoats in West Bengal who defected from the ruling TMC. Most of them tasted defeat in the assembly polls.
Among prominent TMC turncoats who lost the battle were former state minister Rajib Banerjee, ex-MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya, actor Rudranil Ghosh and former Howrah Mayor Rathin Chakrabarty.
However, a few defectors, who joined the BJP, got the better of their TMC rivals, including Suvendu Adhikari who emerged as a proverbial giant slayer, by defeating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee albeit by a narrow margin.
Some of them joined BJP with much fanfare after being flown to the national capital on a chartered flight.