Rebel TMC leader and Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia on Monday claimed that 17 of the 20 MPs of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) will join the BJP either before or after Durga Puja in October, a claim promptly disputed by fellow dissidents.
The BJP sought to distance itself from the claim, with its West Bengal unit chief Samik Bhattacharya saying the party would not take in anyone merely because they want to join it.
Basunia said the 17 MPs had decided to join the BJP together, arguing that their move would not attract disqualification under the anti-defection law as they would constitute more than two-thirds of the NCPI's strength.
“We are 17 MPs going to the BJP together. Since more than two-thirds of the 20 members will be moving, the anti-defection law will not apply to us,” Basunia told reporters.
On June 14, 20 dissident TMC MPs had announced their merger with the little-known NCPI and extended support to the ruling NDA. At least 14 of the 20 MPs would be required to meet the two-thirds threshold for protection under the anti-defection law.
Basunia, however, said three of the MPs, Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahaman and Yusuf Pathan, would not formally join the BJP because of the political and administrative dynamics in their constituencies. Instead, they would extend support to the NDA from outside, he claimed.
“They will support the NDA, and may be given important responsibilities or portfolios,” Basunia said.
However, fellow rebel MP Satabdi Roy said Basunia had made the remarks in his personal capacity, and no such decision has been taken by the group so far.
Another rebel MP, Abu Taher Khan, who is also part of the NCPI group, said Basunia had no right to speak on behalf of all the MPs who had joined the outfit.
He also rejected Basunia's claim that he, Jangipur MP Khalilur Rahaman and Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan would support the BJP-led NDA while staying outside the BJP.
"We will not go to the BJP. We will not go to the NDA. This is clear," Taher said, adding that Basunia's statement was his personal view.
The BJP, meanwhile, distanced itself from the claim.
West Bengal BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said he had no information about any such development and maintained that a person expressing a desire to join the BJP did not mean the party would automatically take him in.
Bhattacharya said the party would not take in anyone merely because they wanted to join, and questioned whether the BJP Basunia was referring to was "the BJP on Mars".
"As far as I know, no one from the TMC or NCPI is joining the BJP. People of the state have not forgotten the kind of atrocities these leaders and MPs have done during the TMC regime," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)