“Now, 17 NCPI MPs [members of Parliament] will join the BJP,” said Basunia, who represents

Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, a member of the Lok Sabha, announced on Monday that 17 former members of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the Durga Puja celebrations in October. This group had previously defected to the NCPI in June after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost power in West Bengal.

Because of objections from Abu Taher and two other parliamentarians, he said the initial plan was to join the BJP directly, but it could not happen.

“So, an arrangement was made for us to join the NCPI.”

The other NCPI lawmakers neither dismissed nor confirmed Basunia’s claim. NCPI is an unrecognised party that contested two assembly seats in Tripura and polled a few hundred votes. Basunia acknowledged they knew nothing about the NCPI until then. “I have to follow what the others do. Khan reacted to Basunia’s remarks, saying nobody authorised him to speak on their behalf. “We follow our own strategy. “I am not aware of any such decision being made. I have to follow the others. Mitali Bag and Kalipada Soren, two other NCPI MPs, also made similar remarks. West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya did not rule out the possibility of the NCPI MPs joining their party. “Anybody may want to join the BJP.

Shatabdi Roy, one of the 17 lawmakers representing Birbhum, said she did not know if Basunia made the statement after discussing the issue with their leaders.

“Now, 17 NCPI MPs [members of Parliament] will join the BJP,” said Basunia, who represents Cooch Behar in Parliament. We have said repeatedly that we will never join the BJP. Arup Chakraborty, the NCPI’s Bankura MP, said, “I am not aware of any decision to join the BJP. But whether they will be accepted or not is a decision made at our highest level,” Bhattacharya said.