Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia on Monday claimed that 17 of the 20 Lok Sabha members aligned with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) have decided to join the BJP either before or after Durga Puja, triggering denials from fellow MPs as well as a cautious response from the BJP.
According to PTI, Basunia, the MP from Cooch Behar, said the lawmakers intended to move together and argued that their numerical strength would protect them from disqualification under the anti-defection law, according to a PTI report.
“We are 17 MPs who are going to the BJP together. Since more than two-thirds of the 20 members will be switching, the anti-defection law will not apply to us,” Basunia told reporters, according to PTI.
The claim comes months after 20 dissident Trinamool MPs announced that they had joined the NCPI and extended support to the BJP-led NDA following the Trinamool Congress's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections. The TMC has challenged the MPs' move and sought their disqualification. The Supreme Court recently issued notices to the 20 lawmakers on a plea concerning the disqualification proceedings.
Basunia further claimed that three MPs from the minority community — Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahaman and Yusuf Pathan — would not formally join the BJP but could support the NDA from outside.
However, Abu Taher Khan rejected the assertion. “We will not go to the BJP. We will not go to the NDA. This is clear,” Khan said, according to PTI.
He maintained that Basunia had no authority to speak on behalf of all the MPs in the group.
Fellow rebel MP Satabdi Roy also distanced herself from Basunia's remarks, saying that he had spoken in his personal capacity and that the group had taken no such collective decision.
The BJP, meanwhile, sought to distance itself from the claim. West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said he was unaware of any such plan and stressed that merely expressing an intention to join the party did not guarantee admission.
“As far as I know, no one from the TMC or NCPI is joining the BJP,” Bhattacharya said, questioning Basunia's assertion and adding that the party would not accept individuals simply because they wanted to join.
The BJP's response is significant as its Bengal unit has recently indicated that it intends to contest upcoming civic elections independently, despite the NCPI group's support for the NDA at the national level. Bhattacharya had earlier said there was “no alliance partner for the BJP in West Bengal”.
