Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Monday held a closed-door meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, hours before Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) MPs were scheduled to attend an NDA meeting in New Delhi, triggering fresh speculation over the party's political trajectory.
Bandyopadhyay is among the 20 former Trinamool Congress MPs who broke away from the Mamata Banerjee-led party and joined the NCPI following the West Bengal Assembly election.
The hour-long meeting at the state secretariat, Nabanna, gained significance after BJP sources said Adhikari cancelled his planned visit to New Delhi at the last minute.
Neither side issued an official statement on the discussions.
According to sources, Adhikari spoke to several senior NCPI MPs over the phone, informing them that he would not be able to travel to the national capital due to unspecified reasons.
Earlier, former TMC MPs who joined the NCPI had indicated that Adhikari was expected to meet the 20 dissident parliamentarians in Delhi. The proposed interaction had fuelled speculation about the group's future, including the possibility of closer ties with the BJP.
A senior NCPI MP told PTI that the meeting with Adhikari had been postponed, while confirming that the party's MPs would attend the NDA meeting as scheduled.
The development came after NCPI MPs received invitations to participate in the NDA meeting in New Delhi, further intensifying speculation over the fledgling party's equation with the BJP-led ruling alliance.
Adhikari spent the day in north Bengal before returning to Kolkata. From the airport, he went directly to Nabanna, where Bandyopadhyay also arrived around the same time. Their meeting immediately sparked political discussion, though neither leader commented on its outcome.
The NCPI entered the national spotlight after 20 MPs split from the Trinamool Congress and joined the party.
Following the split, Bandyopadhyay and the other MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in New Delhi, seeking recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
They also requested seats alongside NDA constituents in the Lok Sabha, signalling their intent to align with the BJP-led alliance.
If granted recognition with its current strength of 20 MPs, the NCPI would become one of the largest allies within the NDA in the Lok Sabha.
The party had earlier indicated its growing engagement with the ruling coalition by participating in the all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on July 19 ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament.
(With inputs from PTI)
