Kolkata: Rebel TMC leader and Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia on Monday claimed that 17 of the 20 Lok Sabha members aligned with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India will join the BJP before or after Durga Puja, a claim promptly disputed by fellow dissidents.
The BJP sought to distance itself from the claim, with its West Bengal unit chief Samik Bhattacharya saying the party would not take in anyone merely because they want to join it.