Bengal guv may soon ask TMC to prove majority in House BJP MP

    Kolkata, Nov 29 (PTI) With voices of dissent in the
TMC getting shriller, BJP MP Saumitra Khan on Sunday took a
jibe at the ruling dispensation, claiming that the governor
may soon ask West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to
prove her majority in the Assembly.
    The TMC, on its part, said the saffron camp leaders
have no respect for the democracy.
    Khan, who is also the state president of Bharatiya
Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), said on the sidelines of a
programme in Jalpaiguri that the current turmoil and the
brewing discontentment in the ruling party have brought to the
fore the question if the party still enjoys the support of
adequate number of legislators in the House.
    "The way the MLAs have been dissenting and leaving
Trinamool, the governor may all of a sudden ask the CM to
prove majority... There is a possibility," Khan said.
    Several ministers in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet are
ready to switch over to the BJP, he stated.
    Reacting to Khan's comments, veteran TMC MP Sougata
Roy said BJP leaders like him know nothing about the
Constitution and its provisions.
    "How could Khan know first-hand that the governor will
make such an unconstitutional move? An elected government
cannot be treated this way... and the overwhelming majority of
MLAs are with the chief minister. The TMC has the support
of 218 legislators in the Assembly," Roy asserted.
    The ruling TMC in Bengal had been trying its best to
keep its flock together, as several key leaders, including
party heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, have, of late, openly
aired their grievanced against the dispensation.
    According to BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, the TMC
lacks the courage to expel Adhikari, who recently quit from
the state cabinet, as "the party fears that it might face
extinction soon.
    Ghosh also alleged that leaders of the ruling party,
who had almost never stepped out of their homes and offices,
are now being "forced" to venture out to get an idea about
ground realities, ahead of 2021 Assembly polls.
    "The month of December appears crucial for TMC, as the
party is facing extinction with people abandoning the ship.
The TMC lacks the courage to expel anyone. It has not been
able to expel Suvendu Adhikari," Ghosh maintained.
    The Mamata Banerjee party also did little to address
the woes of legislator Mihir Goswami, who recently joined the
BJP, the state BJP chief said, adding that more such
developments are likely in the coming days.
    Elections to the 294-member Bengal Assembly are likely
to be held in April-May next year. PTI SUS
RMS RMS

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)