As the Trinamool Congress battles an existential crisis, a key meeting of rebel TMCs will be held in Delhi on Sunday. There are speculations that West Bengal Suvendhu Adhikari could attend the meeting.
The crucial meeting is likely to discuss the strategy ahead of the rebel MPs meeting the Speaker Om Birla on Monday to seek recognition as the "real TMC" parliamentary group. "We have submitted the letter... On Monday, we will go to the Speaker and stake our claim to form the real TMC parliamentary group. We will ask the Speaker to give recognition to our claim," rebel MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia told PTI last Friday.
Basunia claimed that Suvendhu could attend the meeting. “Next Sunday, we will meet the Chief Minister. Though it is not finalised yet, there is a possibility of it happening. He will sit with all our MPs and discuss future plans,” he confirmed.
However, as per the latest reports, the Chief Minister could distance himself from the group.
This meeting in Delhi was initially scheduled at the official residence of Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the MP who has become the main face of the rebel faction. However, due to security concerns and intense political suspense, the venue could be changed at the last minute.
Political circles are dubbing this meeting as "secret dinner diplomacy" and will see 20 MPs attending it, including Mamata’s once-close aide Sudip Bandyopadhyay. A trusted political aide of Mamata, Sudip’s presence with the rebel MPs was confirmed when he reached Delhi from Kolkata on the same flight with Shatabdi Roy on Saturday morning.
Real TMC or team BJP
The core theme of the meeting will likely be whether to claim the “real TMC” status like Ritabrata Banerjee did in the state, or join the BJP. According to a rebel MP, the rebel camp in the Lok Sabha will follow the path of the Ritabrata camp, which staked a claim as the “real state TMC”.
"Just like how they created a separate group in the Assembly, we also created a group in Parliament. We can extend issue-based support for the NDA. This decision has already been taken," the MP said.
However, some MPs, including Murshidabad MP Abu Taher Khan, has already made it clear that a section of the rebels is reluctant to join the BJP. “Khalilur Rahman nor I will ever join the BJP,” he added. Though Yusuf Pathan is in the rebel camp, it is still unclear what his next step will be.
Not just the TMC, speculations are that some in the BJP camp too, are reluctant to open the doors for the rebel MPs. Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary also believe that the BJP will not take all the rebel MPs.
“The BJP wants to increase their number in Parliament as they have to get some bills passed. Many MPs are aware that they are never going to win the elections anymore with Trinamool support. So, they will want assurance of getting a ticket from the BJP. That is why many of them have become BJP allies," Chaudhary added.
