Kolkata, Aug 4 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday held a crucial meeting in New Delhi with the 20 Lok Sabha members of the National Citizens’ Party of India (NCPI.
Following the meeting, some MPs expressed confidence that their bloc’s strength would increase in the coming days.
“Currently, our number is 20. The number might increase in the coming days,” said actress‑turned‑politician and first‑time Lok Sabha member from Hooghly constituency, Rachana Banerjee.
When asked for names of possible turncoats, she replied: “Better you guess.”
Meanwhile, Mathurapur MP Bapi Haldar dismissed rumours that three minority MPs in the bloc, Khalilur Rahman from Jangipur, Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan and Murshidabad MP Abu Taher, might return to the original Trinamool fold under Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
“NCPI is already supporting the NDA. The three MPs had some problems of their own. They told everything to the Chief Minister. There was a clear discussion. They are with us. They are with the Chief Minister for the sake of development in West Bengal,” Haldar said.
It is learnt that the Chief Minister also spoke separately with the three minority MPs from Murshidabad district.
Actress‑turned‑politician and four‑time Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy said that during the meeting there were detailed discussions on development issues in West Bengal with the Chief Minister.
Besides the 20 TMC‑turned‑NCPI Lok Sabha members, three newly‑elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha members, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik, also joined the meeting.
Roy, Dev and Baraik were erstwhile Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha members. Soon after the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, all three resigned from their seats and joined the BJP. They were subsequently re‑elected to Rajya Sabha in the same seats vacated earlier.
–IANS
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