Jalpaiguri/Kolkata: Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Basunia, who defected from Trinamool Congress and joined an outfit called Nationalist Congress Party of India after Trinamool’s defeat in this year’s assembly poll, created a flutter in state politics when he claimed that 17 rebel breakaway MPs would be joining BJP next month before or right after Durga Puja.Basunia’s statement coincided with the fight at Election Commission between two different factions of Trinamool MLAs (one led by former Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the other by rebel MLA Ritabrata Banerjee) over the control of the party’s official name and symbol.The BJP leadership had arranged for 20 rebel Trinamool MPs to join NCPI (a little-known outfit that suddenly shot to prominence after the defections), Basunia said. “Three minority MPs, who are with us, do not want to join BJP directly. But the 17 others will join BJP. Our plan is ready. The remaining three (Abu Taher, Khalilur Rahman and Yusuf Pathan) will be given various portfolios. They will stay with and support NDA but will not join BJP directly,” he added.The rebel MPs had originally planned to switch to BJP straight from Trinamool, Basunia said. “All 20 MPs decided to join BJP. But a problem arose because three minority MPs were not willing to join directly. Delhi (BJP) seniors then facilitated our merger with the NCPI,” he said, adding: “We did not even know about going to NCPI. It is a registered but unrecognised political party.”Bengal BJP seniors debunked Basunia’s claims, with state president Samik Bhattacharya saying: “He (Basunia) is probably referring to BJP on Mars. The party will not admit anyone who wants to join. What happened to BJP workers after the 2021 election (the violence) must not be forgotten.”State BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar, too, dismissed Basunia’s statement: “I do not have any such information. These people are not little children for BJP to hold their hands, take them away, admit them to a school somewhere. Things like this do not happen in our party. What he is saying cannot be reconciled with our party’s ideology.”Other NCPI MPs distanced themselves from Basunia’s claims. Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said she had no comment and Mathurapur MP Bapi Haldar said he did not know “anything”.Murshidabad MP Abu Taher launched a sharp attack on Basunia: “Those who want to join BJP can go. I will not join BJP nor will I join NDA. I am speaking for myself. He (Basunia) is neither my guardian nor my custodian and he did not cast a single vote to help me win. I have to keep in mind my voters in Murshidabad, a minority-dominated area, and I cannot betray anyone.”Basunia had the same explanation for the three Muslim MPs’ avoiding a direct entry into BJP. “Their area is minority-dominated and there are certain issues. However, they will remain NDA supporters and work for the coalition. We are now with NCPI,” he insisted. “We have 17 people with us (more than two-thirds) and we will not fall on the wrong side of the anti-defection law. Our joining (BJP) might happen before or right after Durga Puja,” he added.Basunia’s claims come in the backdrop of legal challenges against their defection (besides the ongoing EC battle), with Trinamool filing a disqualification petition against the rebel MPs in Supreme Court. The apex court asked the MPs to reply to the petition, with the next hearing likely this Friday. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla issued a notice to the rebel MPs last month, asking why they should not be disqualified. The rebel MPs asked for a three-week extension and Birla directed them to submit their response by the 22nd of this month.Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s primary contention with Birla has been that the rebel MPs voluntarily gave up their original party membership by forming a separate faction and attempting to merge it with another outfit, which should automatically trigger disqualification. Trinamool has argued in SC that the speaker was deliberately delaying action and the court must order a time-bound decision.The rebel MPs are still in Trinamool according to Lok Sabha records but have separate sitting arrangements.Basunia’s claims also coincided with intense local anger. Both he and his MLA wife, Sangita Roy, have faced fierce protests in their hometown of Sitai following their defection. A protest last month had become so fierce that cops had to escort him out of his village in Sitai to his flat in Cooch Behar town in the dead of night. He faced similar protests on Sunday.Local BJP workers view his statements as a strategy to buy time and placate them by projecting his “proximity” with BJP seniors. “We were terrorised by his atrocities when Trinamool was in office. Many of us were forced to flee Sitai. Now he claims he is going to join BJP. We know what us ground-level workers have been through. Our party leadership should keep that in mind,” a BJP functionary in Sitai said.
