Kolkata: Reports from West Bengal indicate that a large group of dissident Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MPs may soon move to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A rebel MP has claimed that 17 out of 20 MPs in the dissident bloc have decided to join the BJP before the Durga Puja festival.
The political churn follows the state Assembly election held in April, in which TMC suffered a heavy defeat. The BJP formed the government for the first time in West Bengal, with senior leader Suvendu Adhikari becoming Chief Minister.
After the loss, internal dissent reportedly intensified against Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is a Lok Sabha MP and the party’s general secretary. Several party functionaries are said to have resigned in succession, reflecting the widening rift.
Amid this, 60 of TMC’s 80 MLAs reportedly backed Ritabrata Banerjee, who had been expelled from the party, and he became the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. In Parliament too, 20 of TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs reportedly functioned as a separate group, leaving Mamata Banerjee politically isolated.
In June, the 20 dissident MPs joined the Indian Nationalist Citizens Party, a Tripura-based outfit, and announced support for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Now, Cooch Behar dissident MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia has said that 17 of them plan to formally enter the BJP, arguing that with two-thirds shifting, the anti-defection law would not apply. He added that Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahman and Yusuf Pathan would not join the BJP but would extend outside support to the NDA, and could be considered for key roles or a place in the Union Cabinet.
