KOLKATA: Ahead of the July 18 Presidential elections, the BJP in West Bengal shifted its 69 MLAs to a hotel in Kolkata’s outskirts on Sunday.
The move is said to be first of its kind in Bengal’s politics. Sources in the BJP said the party wanted to ensure votes of all the 69 MLAs in support of NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu.
The party, however, said that the MLAs would be given training on how to cast their votes in the presidential elections on Sunday before they would go to the Assembly on Monday.
“Training is not required for voting in the presidential elections. The legislators could have been allowed to stay at the MLA hostel,” said a senior BJP leader. The BJP’s strength in the Bengal House has been reduced since the 2021 Assembly elections.
Seven BJP MLAs have defected to the TMC, bringing the saffron camp’s tally down to 70 from 77. Another MLA, son of Mukul Roy who also joined the TMC, has not yet joined the TMC, but the BJP leadership expected he would follow his father.
The state BJP leadership could not fathom the fact that on July 12, when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s candidate, Draupadi Murmu came to Kolkata and had a meeting with the elected party MPs and MLAs, a number of MLAs and MPs remained absent on the occasion.
Trinamool leaders have ridiculed the initiative of the state BJP to house their MLAs at the hotel.