Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Rebel Trinamool Congress leader and Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia on Monday said 17 of the 20 Lok Sabha members aligned with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India would join the BJP before or after Durga Puja. His claim was quickly challenged by other dissident MPs, who said no such collective decision had been taken, reported PTI.
The BJP also distanced itself from the claim. West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya said the party would not admit anyone merely because they wanted to join. The remarks come amid an ongoing dispute over the status of the 20 MPs, who had announced their merger with the little-known NCPI and support for the BJP-led NDA after the TMC’s defeat in the Assembly polls in May this year, and now face disqualification proceedings.
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Basunia, who also rebelled against Mamata Banerjee after the TMC’s rout earlier this year and subsequently joined the NCPI, told reporters that 17 MPs had finalised a plan to join the BJP together, and that the figure would keep them outside the purview of the anti-defection law.
“We are 17 MPs who are going to the BJP together. Since more than two-thirds of the 20 members will be switching, the anti-defection law will not apply to us,” he said.
Of the TMC’s 27 Lok Sabha MPs, 20 joined the NCPI and extended support to the BJP soon after the Assembly election defeat. Basunia said the MPs had initially planned to move directly to the BJP, but were brought into the NCPI after three minority MPs were unwilling to join the BJP.
The TMC leadership, led by Mamata Banerjee, has submitted an application to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and has also approached the Supreme Court, seeking the disqualification of the 20 MPs. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee separately approached the Supreme Court seeking early disposal of his petition under the anti-defection law.
The legal position of the group remains under challenge. Lok Sabha records still show the 20 MPs as TMC members, and their request for recognition as a separate NCPI group has not been finally decided.
On June 14, the 20 dissident MPs announced their merger with the NCPI and support to the BJP-led NDA, and later sought recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
The rebel camp has maintained that the move amounts to a valid merger and has relied on the two-thirds provision under the anti-defection law. With 20 MPs in the group, at least 14 are needed to meet that threshold.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat later issued notices to the MPs on August 26, asking for their replies to the disqualification petitions. The MPs sought three more weeks, and Speaker Om Birla granted the extension, setting September 22 as the revised deadline. The Supreme Court has also issued notices to the 20 MPs.
REBEL MPS REJECT BASUNIA’S CLAIM
Basunia’s latest statement, however, was rejected by fellow rebel MPs. Satabdi Roy said he had spoken in his personal capacity and that no such decision had yet been taken by the group.
Another rebel MP, Abu Taher Khan, who is also part of the NCPI group, said Basunia had no authority to speak on behalf of all the MPs who had joined the outfit.
Taher also rejected Basunia’s claim that he, Jangipur MP Khalilur Rahaman and Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan would stay out of the BJP but support the BJP-led NDA.
“We will not go to the BJP. We will not go to the NDA. This is clear,” Taher said, adding that Basunia’s statement reflected only his personal view.
The Murshidabad MP said he and the other two MPs could attend government meetings if invited by the prime minister or the chief minister on development-related matters, but would not take part in meetings of the BJP or the NDA.
Basunia had said that the three MPs, being from the minority community, would not formally join the BJP because of the political situation in their constituencies, but would extend support to the NDA from outside and could be given important responsibilities or portfolios.
BJP DISTANCES ITSELF FROM JOINING CLAIM
The BJP said it had no information about any such move. West Bengal BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said that even if someone expressed a wish to join the BJP, it did not mean the party would automatically accept that person.
Bhattacharya said the BJP would not take in anyone simply because they wanted to join, and asked whether the BJP Basunia had spoken about was “the BJP on Mars”. He added, “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.”
Amid the political row, Basunia and his wife, TMC MLA Sangeeta Roy, faced protests when they returned to his ancestral home in Sitai in Cooch Behar. A TMC office near his residence was also allegedly set on fire. Basunia has continued to say that he is no longer with the TMC and is aligned with the NDA.
The dispute over the 20 dissident MPs has therefore widened on several fronts, with Basunia claiming that 17 will move to the BJP, other rebel MPs denying any such decision, the BJP refusing to endorse the claim, and the matter still awaiting resolution before the Speaker and the Supreme Court.
– Ends
Inputs from PTI
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
