Overview
- On Monday, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia told reporters that 17 of the 20 NCPI MPs have finalised plans to join the BJP either before or after Durga Puja in October.
- Basunia said the coordinated shift would exceed the two‑thirds threshold needed under India’s anti‑defection law, which requires 14 of 20 members to agree to a merger to avoid disqualification.
- He named three NCPI MPs—Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahaman and Yusuf Pathan—who he said will not formally join the BJP but will give outside support to the NDA.
- Basunia’s return to his ancestral home in Sitai provoked protests by residents and some BJP workers, and a nearby Trinamool office was reported vandalised and set on fire with police and central security deployed and a probe under way.
- The NCPI grouping originally formed on June 14 when 20 dissident TMC MPs announced a merger and pledged support to the NDA, a shift that follows TMC losses in the May 2026 West Bengal assembly polls and has fuelled local anger and wider political realignments.