West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited the North Kolkata home of MP and NCPI leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Sunday, sparking buzz over a possible tie-up between the BJP and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) for the upcoming municipal elections.
Adhikari was accompanied by Transport Minister Arjun Singh. Chowringhee MLA Nayna Bandyopadhyay and wife of Sudip Bandopadhyay had hosted Lakshmi Puja at her house and her husband had invited the chief minister to join in the celebrations. “I will not discuss any political matters here. This is where the civic election tie-up comes in. The chief minister’s visit to the house of the NCPI leader came immediately after that.
Sunil Bansal, the leader in charge of our state, and state president Shamik Bhattacharya will address this,” Adhikari said. On the visit to Sudip Bandopadhyay’s house, the chief minister said the NCPI leader supports the Centre in national interest. Sudip Bandopadhyay said his party is the second-largest ally within the NDA and the alliance expects it to contribute in some ways. Just days ago, BJP leader Rahul Sinha had said the party would contest the Kolkata and Howrah civic polls on its own, ruling out an alliance with other parties at the municipal level.
