A day after 12 TMC councillors and MLA Sunil Singh joined the BJP, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she does not want thieves in her party.
While addressing her party councillors in Kolkata, Banerjee said, “TMC is not a weak party. I don’t care if 15-20 councillors leave the party after accepting cash. If party MLAs want to leave the party, they can. We don’t want thieves in our party. If one person leaves, I will prepare 500 more.”
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata: TMC is not a weak party. I don’t care if 15-20 councillors leave the party after accepting cash. If party MLAs want to leave they can. We don’t want thieves in our party. If one person leaves I will prepare 500 more. pic.twitter.com/2WKmPh2FWP
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2019
On Monday, TMC leaders joined the BJP in the presence of senior leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy in Kolkata.
Meanwhile, the Bengal chief minister Tuesday excused herself from the scheduled meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with political party chiefs in New Delhi on Wednesday, asking the government to prepare a white paper on ‘one nation, one election’ instead of doing it ‘hurriedly’.
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Modi has invited heads of all parties who have an MP either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha for a meeting on June 19 to discuss several issues including the ‘one nation, one election idea. It will be followed by a dinner meeting with all MPs on June 20.
In May 2019, three TMC party MLAs including Shubrangshu Roy, son of Mukul Roy, along with 63 municipal councillors, had joined the BJP.