West Bengal: Suvendu To Meet 20 NCPI MPs In Delhi Before Their NDA Entry
Mr Adhikari's office informed the NCPI MPs at around 3 pm on Monday about the meeting-schedule at Banga Bhavan at 1 pm on Tuesday: Reports
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari will hold a meeting with 20 Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) Lok Sabha MPs, all of whom earlier represented Trinamul Congress, in New Delhi on Tuesday afternoon before their first ever meeting with the BJP-ruled NDA they recently decided to partner with.
According to sources, Mr Adhikari's office informed the NCPI MPs at around 3 pm on Monday about the meeting-schedule at Banga Bhavan at 1 pm on Tuesday. The dramatic political development, which comes amid the parliament session, has triggered speculation about the 20 NCPI MPs’ induction to the BJP.
Later, Satabdi Roy, who is one of the NCPI MPs, said, “We have a meeting with the CM tomorrow. We will be asked to share our views. All of us may speak out on those issues which could not be spoken about earlier.” Defending their switch from TMC, she added, “Whatever we did is within the law. I don't think anything illegal happened.”
Ms Roy also pointed out, “The Election Commission will perhaps send some papers. The Lok Sabha speaker will take the final decision. All are waiting for that.” She however skipped the query on the possibility of the NCPI MPs’ entry to the BJP. This is not the first time when Mr Adhikari is meeting them.
In June, he attended their meeting at the residence of senior BJP leader and union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav in the national capital before their switch from TMC to NCPI. Mr Yadav is also expected to attend Tuesday's meeting.
At present, the 20 NCPI MPs do not belong to either ruling or opposition in the House as they are yet to be recognised by LS Speaker Om Birla since their previous party, TMC, has petitioned to Mr Birla to disqualify them under the anti-defection law for their switch.
