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With three of NCPI leaders belonging to the minority community having skipped the NDA 'Mangal Milan' meeting held on Tuesday, the party has sought to reject speculation of a rift but Trinamool Congress leaders said that the three parliamentarians do not wish to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
NCPI leaders Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahman, and Yusuf Pathan did not attend the NDA meeting, the first time the party had attended the meeting of the ruling alliance at the Centre. Twenty rebel Trinamool Congress MPs had left the party after its defeat in the assembly polls and announced that they are joining the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. The party said it will support NDA. TMC MP Saugata Roy on Friday added to the speculations and said the three MPs do not want to align with the BJP. "I was told that they (NCPI leaders Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahman, and Yusuf Pathan) do not wish to join the NDA, they do not want to align with the BJP, which is why they boycotted it... Discussions are underway; talks are happening. Nothing has been finalised yet. When they left the Trinamool, it wasn't decided that they would join the BJP... It is becoming difficult for these people to answer to their community," he said. Saugata Roy also said that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is aware of the matter. Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahman, and Asit Mal were seen talking to Saugata Roy in Parliament premises on Thursday. NCPI leader Shatabdi Roy dismissed speculations of rift. "People are simply creating a narrative. They keep focusing on the number '20', claiming that 20 people are coming or leaving, because such stories generate public interest," she said. After the NDA meeting on Tuesday, several MPs, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Shatabdi Roy, and June Malia, had praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. NCPI leaders were invited for the all-party meeting by the government ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, trigerring protests from opposition parties who staged a brief walk out. Interestingly, after the meeting, NCPI leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay had stressed its "secular" character. "We are committed to our party's principles: secularism, communal harmony, and national unity. These are the firm policies enshrined in the NCPI's constitution. We believe this is significant because, among the 20 MPs who formed the NCPI, three are Muslim," he said. The stance of three MPs from the minority community will have ramifications both for the Trinamool Congress and rebel party MPs. (ANI)
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