Jagadish Chandra Basunia Basunia, MP in the Lok Sabha from Cooch Behar, has stated that 17 lawmakers from Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) can join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before Durga Puja which is to be held in October.
The assertion appears to have come in the wake of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) losing the ground administration in West Bengal, a few months ago when the MPs seem to have made a switch to the lesser-known NCPI. Basunia has said a lot of the legislators were not aware of the party before becoming members.
Now 17 NCPI MPs will be a part of the BJP, Basunia said, saying that his will would now follow the latter.
But several other NCPI lawmakers have not been able to confirm this allegation. Despite being NCPI associates, Murshidabad MPs have not been present at any meetings of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), headed by BJP so far.
Khan strongly denied the talks with BJP saying Basunia had not been given permission to represent the party. He pointed out the decision of lawmakers is out of their control as they are pursuing their own strategy and have already said they would not join the BJP.
Others NCPI MPs also voiced doubts. Birbhum MP Shatabdi Roy stated that she passed on information about such move or decision, whereas Bankura MP Arup Chakraborty told us that he received no information about any such move to BJP. Similar responses were obtained from Mitali Bag and Kalipada Soren also.
As some members of Parliament (MPs) are taking a stand against Basunia’s decision, it is uncertain if the reported move to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will actually be executed ahead of Durga Puja.