20 rebel TMC MPs who had merged with Tripura-based NCPI to join BJP

Rebel Trinamool Congress leader Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia said on Monday that 17 of the 20 party MPs, who had merged with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India, will join the Bharatiya Janata Party in October, reported PTI.

“We are 17 MPs going to the BJP together,” Basunia was quoted as saying by the news agency. “Since more than two-thirds of the 20 members will be moving, the anti-defection law will not apply to us.”

He said that the MPs will join the Hindutva party “before or after Durga Puja”, which will begin on October 6 and conclude on October 10 this year.