Politics West Bengal

17 of 20 NCPI MPs to join BJP before Durga Puja, says MP

Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, the Cooch Behar MP among 20 Lok Sabha members who joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India in June after the Trinamool Congress lost power in West Bengal, said on Monday that 17 of them will join the BJP before Durga Puja in October. Khan rejected the claim, saying nobody authorised Basunia to speak for them and they would never join the BJP. Other MPs neither confirmed nor denied it.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 14 Sept 2026, 5:09 pm IST

Source

Hindustan Times — India · read the original report ↗

#ncpi#bjp#tmc#west bengal#lok sabha#defection

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (5)

17 of 20 NCPI MPs will join the BJP before Durga Puja in October — Attributed solely to Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia; not confirmed by other MPs quoted in the source.
Twenty TMC Lok Sabha members joined the NCPI on June 14, questioning Abhishek Banerjee's leadership — Stated as fact in the source with a specific date; no external document or spokesperson cited.
Khan says they will never join the BJP and nobody authorised Basunia to speak for them — Direct quote attributed to Khan in the source, presented as a rebuttal.
NCPI is an unrecognised party that contested two Tripura assembly seats and polled a few hundred votes — Figure appears twice in the source without an attributed data source; vote count is imprecise.
TMC won 29 of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in 2024 and was left with nine Rajya Sabha members after resignations — Numbers appear in the source; no source given for the Rajya Sabha tally.

Written by AI from Hindustan Times — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI రాజకీయ విశ్లేషకులు · తెలుగు

ఇది ఒక దశలవారీ ఫిరాయింపు వ్యూహంలా కనిపిస్తోంది — తృణమూల్ నుంచి నేరుగా బీజేపీలోకి కాకుండా, ఎన్‌సీపీఐ అనే గుర్తింపు లేని పార్టీని మధ్యేమార్గంగా వాడుకుని, ఇప్పుడు దుర్గా పూజ ముందు తుది మజిలీకి చేరే ప్రయత్నం. బసునియా వ్యాఖ్యలు, ఖాన్ ఖండన కలిపి చూస్తే ఈ 20 మంది బృందం ఏకశిలా సదృశం కాదని, ముర్షిదాబాద్ లాంటి ముస్లిం మెజారిటీ నియోజకవర్గాల ఎంపీలకు బీజేపీ ట్యాగ్ ఎన్నికల రిస్క్ అని స్పష్టమవుతోంది. బెంగాల్ బీజేపీ నాయకత్వం తలుపులు మూయకపోవడం, కానీ "అంగీకారం పైస్థాయిలో నిర్ణయం" అనడం — బలం ప్రదర్శన, బేరసారాల శక్తి తమ చేతిలోనే ఉంచుకోవడం.

2024లో 42లో 29 సీట్లు గెలిచిన తృణమూల్‌కు 28లో 20 మంది ఎంపీలు, 80లో 58 మంది ఎమ్మెల్యేలు చేజారడం — ఇది వ్యక్తిగత ఫిరాయింపు కాదు, సంస్థాగత విచ్ఛిన్నం స్థాయి దెబ్బ.
ఎన్‌సీపీఐ లాంటి అనామక పార్టీని వాడుకోవడం రాజకీయ సౌకర్యం కోసమే అనిపిస్తుంది; బసునియా స్వయంగా ఆ పార్టీ గురించి ముందు తెలియదని అంగీకరించడం ఆ 'ఏర్పాటు' స్వభావాన్ని బయటపెడుతోంది.
ఖాన్, ఖలీలుర్ రహమాన్, యూసుఫ్ పఠాన్ ఎన్‌డీఏ సమావేశాలకు దూరంగా ఉండటం — మైనారిటీ ఓటు బ్యాంకు ఆధారిత ఎంపీలకు బీజేపీలో చేరడం రాజకీయ ఆత్మహత్య కావచ్చనే లెక్క.
శతాబ్ది రాయ్, అరూప్ చక్రవర్తి సహా చాలామంది 'తెలియదు, ఇతరులను అనుసరిస్తా' అనడం — నిర్ణయం అట్టడుగు నుంచి రాలేదని, పైస్థాయి బేరసారాలపై ఆధారపడి ఉందని సూచన.
అభిషేక్ బెనర్జీ నాయకత్వాన్ని ప్రశ్నించడమే ఈ తిరుగుబాటుకు చెప్పిన కారణం కావడంతో, తృణమూల్‌కు ఇది వారసత్వ సంక్షోభంగానూ మారే ప్రమాదం ఉంది.

What to watch — దుర్గా పూజ ముందు ఈ 17 మంది నిజంగా చేరుతారా, బీజేపీ 'పైస్థాయి' అందరినీ అంగీకరిస్తుందా, ముర్షిదాబాద్ త్రయం విడిగా ఏ దారి ఎంచుకుంటుందా — ఈ మూడు అంశాలే బెంగాల్‌లో తదుపరి బలాబలాలను నిర్ణయిస్తాయి.

బసునియా చెప్పింది ఒక వ్యక్తి ప్రకటన మాత్రమే; 17 మంది చేరికపై ఎన్‌సీపీఐ లేదా బీజేపీ అధికారిక నిర్ణయం, ఫిరాయింపు నిరోధక చట్టపరమైన పరిణామాలు, ఈ మార్పులకు వెనుక ఉన్న ఒప్పందాల స్వభావం — ఇవేవీ ఈ కథనం నిర్ధారించలేదు.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 6 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

After the Trinamool Congress lost power in West Bengal, 20 of its Lok Sabha MPs defected on June 14 to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), an unrecognised party that had contested only two assembly seats in Tripura and polled a few hundred votes. The NCPI is a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia has now said 17 of the 20 will formally join the BJP before Durga Puja in October, a claim contested by some of the defectors.

Key facts

Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Cooch Behar MP, said on Monday that 17 NCPI MPs will join the BJP before Durga Puja in October.
Twenty TMC Lok Sabha members joined the NCPI on June 14, questioning TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee's leadership.
The NCPI is an unrecognised party that contested two assembly seats in Tripura and polled a few hundred votes.
Basunia said the original plan was to join the BJP directly but objections from Abu Taher and two other MPs led to an 'arrangement' to join the NCPI instead.
Khan, Khalilur Rahman and Yusuf Pathan, MPs from Muslim-majority Murshidabad district, have stayed away from NDA meetings; Khan said they will 'never join the BJP'.
TMC won 29 of West Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 national polls; one MP died after the election, and 20 of the remaining 28 defected.
Around the same time, 58 of the 80 TMC assembly members rebelled and claimed the right to the party's election symbol.
TMC was left with nine Rajya Sabha members after Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik resigned in June, joined the BJP and were reelected to the upper House on July 24; actor Koel Mallick also resigned.

Timeline

2024 national pollsTMC sweeps West Bengal, winning 29 of 42 Lok Sabha seats; one of its MPs dies after the election.
June (after TMC lost power in West Bengal)Twenty TMC Lok Sabha members defect to the NCPI on June 14, questioning Abhishek Banerjee's leadership; 58 of 80 TMC MLAs rebel and claim the party symbol.
JuneTMC Rajya Sabha members Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Chik Baraik resign and join the BJP; Koel Mallick also resigns from the Rajya Sabha.
July 24Roy, Dev and Baraik are reelected to the Rajya Sabha; TMC left with nine members in the upper House.
Monday (as reported)Basunia claims 17 NCPI MPs will join the BJP before Durga Puja in October; Khan rejects the claim.
October (planned)Durga Puja - the deadline Basunia says the 17 MPs will join the BJP by.

Who has a stake

Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia (Cooch Behar MP) — Publicly announced the shift of 17 NCPI MPs to the BJP; says he must 'follow what the others do'.
Khan, Khalilur Rahman, Yusuf Pathan (Murshidabad MPs) — Joined NCPI but avoided NDA meetings; insist they will never join the BJP, holding out in a Muslim-majority district.
NCPI — An unrecognised party that suddenly hosts 20 Lok Sabha MPs; risks being emptied out if 17 leave for the BJP.
BJP / West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya — Stands to gain MPs; Bhattacharya says acceptance is decided 'at our highest level'.
TMC led by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee — Lost power in the state, 20 of 28 sitting MPs, 58 of 80 MLAs and four Rajya Sabha members; leadership questioned.
Other NCPI MPs (Shatabdi Roy, Arup Chakraborty, Mitali Bag, Kalipada Soren) — Say they are unaware of any decision to join the BJP; their choices decide whether Basunia's claim holds.

Why it matters

A near-wholesale migration of a ruling party's parliamentary bloc, first into an unrecognised party and then possibly into the BJP, raises questions about how defections are managed around anti-defection rules and about voter mandates given in 2024. It also marks the scale of TMC's collapse in West Bengal, from 29 Lok Sabha seats to a shrinking rump in both Houses. The open contradiction between Basunia and the Murshidabad MPs shows the bloc is not united.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

NCPI: Nationalist Citizens Party of India, an unrecognised party that contested two Tripura assembly seats; a constituent of the NDA.
TMC won 29 of West Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general election.
20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs joined the NCPI on June 14; 58 of 80 TMC MLAs rebelled and claimed the party symbol.
Three TMC Rajya Sabha members resigned in June, joined the BJP and were reelected on July 24; TMC left with nine Rajya Sabha members.
Samik Bhattacharya is the West Bengal BJP chief; Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia is the MP from Cooch Behar.
Murshidabad district's three MPs named in the story: Khan, Khalilur Rahman and Yusuf Pathan.

Mains framing

The mass defection of 20 Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha members to the unrecognised Nationalist Citizens Party of India, and the claim that 17 of them will move on to the BJP before Durga Puja, illustrates how party-splitting is now routed through intermediate vehicles rather than direct crossovers: Basunia himself says the plan was to join the BJP directly but an 'arrangement' with the NCPI was made after objections from three MPs. The causes lie in TMC's loss of power in West Bengal and open questioning of Abhishek Banerjee's leadership, mirrored by 58 of 80 MLAs rebelling for the party symbol and four Rajya Sabha resignations. The implications are three-fold: representational, since voters elected TMC to 29 of 42 seats in 2024; institutional, as an unrecognised party polling a few hundred votes in Tripura becomes a parliamentary bloc within the NDA; and political, as the Murshidabad MPs' refusal shows the defecting group lacks a common line. The way forward, on the source's own evidence, depends on the internal decisions of the MPs and on the BJP's 'highest level', which Bhattacharya says will decide who is accepted - underlining the need for transparency about how such group transfers are recorded and legitimised.

Key terms

NCPI: Nationalist Citizens Party of India, an unrecognised party that contested two Tripura assembly seats and polled a few hundred votes; now an NDA constituent.
NDA: National Democratic Alliance, the BJP-led ruling grouping of which the NCPI is a constituent.
Unrecognised party: A registered political party without recognition as a state or national party, and hence without a reserved election symbol status.
Election symbol claim: The demand by 58 of 80 rebelling TMC MLAs for the right to use the party's symbol, a common flashpoint in party splits.
Rajya Sabha resignation and reelection: Three TMC upper House members resigned in June, joined the BJP and were reelected on July 24.

Practice questions

Mass defections routed through small, unrecognised parties test the spirit of India's anti-defection framework. Discuss with reference to the recent movement of 20 West Bengal MPs to the NCPI.
Examine the implications for representative democracy when a majority of a party's elected legislators leave it mid-term, using the 2024-elected West Bengal bloc as a case study.
What does the divergence between Basunia's claim and the Murshidabad MPs' refusal reveal about the internal cohesion of defecting legislative blocs?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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