17 of 20 NCPI MPs to likely to join BJP, says MP Jagadish Basunia

Trinamool Congress MP from Cooch Behar Jagdish Chandra Barma Basunia, who along with 19 other MPs of the party defected to National Citizens Party of India (NCPI), on Monday (September 14, 2026) said that 17 MPs of NCPI are likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before Durga Puja in October this year.

“Now we have no hurdle in joining BJP. Three MPs do not want to join the BJP, they will remain with NCPI. The remaining 17 of us will join with BJP before the pujas,” Mr. Basunia told media persons at Cooch Behar. The three MPs not willing to join the BJP are Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahman and Yusuf Pathan, who have gone on record to say that they will not join the BJP.

Mr. Basunia said that all the rebel MPs of the Trinamool wanted to join the BJP directly but there was a ‘little problem’ as the three minority MPs did not want to join the party directly and that was the reason the MPs merged with NCPI.

Almost a month after the Trinamool Congress lost West Bengal Assembly elections, 20 MPs elected on the Trinamool symbol, on June 14, informed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that they had merged with the NCPI, a registered regional political party.

All the 20 MPs have offered their support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre. Meanwhile, leaders in the West Bengal BJP said that they are not aware of any NCPI MPs joining the party. While the remarks of the Cooch Behar MP triggered speculations in political circles, several MPs of NCPI including senior MPs like Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Shatabdi Roy said that they are not aware of any such plans of joining the BJP.

Notably, several NCPI MPs have expressed their wish that they want to join the BJP, but a section of West Bengal BJP leadership is not keen about it. The State BJP leadership is already facing much criticism over allegations of ‘Trinamoolification of the BJP’ — meaning, the saffron party is accommodating leaders and policies of the Trinamool Congress which it fought against.

The sudden announcement of joining the BJP by Mr. Basunia, a first time MP, is also being attributed to the protests he is facing in Cooch Behar. Mr. Basunia, who was once associated with All India Forward Bloc, has faced repeated protests at home.

A few days ago a rally organised in Cooch Behar witnessed hundreds of people raising ‘Go Back’ slogans against the MP. His wife Sangeeta Basu Basunia, an MLA with the Trinamool Congress, has joined the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction.