Hint at bid by five BJP MPs to join TMC ahead of swearing-in ceremony for 18th Lok Sabha

Besides the victors, there are 'many' among 30 defeated BJP candidates in Bengal who have been attempting back-channel parleys for induction into Trinamool, said the sources

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, TT, Calcutta, 08.06.24 : The supreme leadership of the Trinamool Congress, according to sources, is considering the prudence in allowing in two or three of “at least five” of the BJP’s 12 MPs from Bengal, who are in touch with Mamata Banerjee’s party with hopes of switching sides before any of those elected to the 18th Lok Sabha is sworn in.

Besides the victors, there are “many” among 30 defeated BJP candidates in Bengal who have been attempting back-channel parleys for induction into Trinamool, said the sources.

“Two, if not three, of the BJP’s 12 Lok Sabha members from Bengal might actually be allowed in even before anybody is sworn in as an MP this time,” said a source in the senior leadership of Trinamool, aware of deliberations currently underway in the topmost tiers of Bengal’s ruling party.

The swearing-in is likely to take place by mid-June, which is in about a week.

“There are at least five of the 12 who want to jump ship, but a couple of them are waiting to see if they are offered Union cabinet berths by their national leadership, in order to keep them from leaving,” the source added.

If Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee ultimately allow it, the BJP’s national tally would sink to the 230s, from the current 240, and make Narendra Modi — about to be sworn in as a much weakened Prime Minister for his third term — even more dependent on unreliable allies of the NDA to stay ahead of the majority mark of 272 in the Lower House.

Nitish Kumar’s JDU (12 MPs) and N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP (16 MPs) are constituents of the NDA whose current tally is 293. The JDU and the TDP had left the NDA before.

“Mind you, there are more than 10 MPs of NDA allies who are already in touch with various INDIA partners in several other states, similarly exploring possibilities of defection,” said a source in Trinamool aware of discussions within the INDIA space in Delhi over the past 72 hours.

“Trinamool is confident of winning bypolls, if necessary. But not everyone is. Such MPs are looking to make use of a grey area in the defection rules, which leave scope for convoluted litigation instead of immediate resignation if the defections take place between the election victory and the swearing-in,” the source said.

With 29 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha members, Trinamool is already the third-largest force in INDIA, after the Congress and the SP which has 37 MPs.

“Kalighat (home of the aunt and the nephew) is considering this only for the sake of the further weakening of the BJP, and not just nationally. In Bengal, they are in the very real danger of slipping to nine or seven MPs even before the monsoon is able to arrive properly,” said a reelected Trinamool MP.

He said there was no reliable indication yet on what would be done with the defeated BJP candidates who wanted to defect, but a handful of them might be accepted on the basis of their usefulness. “Because the top two are looking to strengthen our position ahead of 2026 (the Bengal Assembly elections), and some of them will change equations locally, for Assembly seats,” added the MP.

The BJP state leadership responded with sarcasm to the reports on the possibility of the party’s MPs defecting to Trinamool.

“Trinamool got the number wrong. Instead of saying two or three, they should have said all BJP MPs are yearning to switch to Trinamool,” said BJP’s chief spokesperson for Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, also a Rajya Sabha member currently in Delhi.