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Is It Mukulda's Hint?

The one time Trinamool Congress in-house strategist and organisation mastermind and erstwhile Mamata 2nd-in-command turned BJP's West Bengal leader Mukul Roy has perhaps let the cat out of the bag recently.

"107 MLAs from CPI(M), Congress and Trinamool will join BJP. We have a list prepared and they are in contact with us," he is reported to have said while addressing the media in Kolkata.

In fact, I had kind of predicted before the Lok Sabha elections that Mukulda was -- and will be -- on a head hunting mission 


His statement has made certain pundits produce simple arithmetic on West Bengal's assembly strength. However, the fact is if  107 MLAs walk out of various parties then (depending on the respective party's strength) the House strength will also come down.  

A little birdie had told me earlier that, in a manner of weighing options, the state BJP is considering bringing a no-confidence motion against the Mamata Banerjee-led government sometimes in mid-2020.

Assembly elections are expected in April-May 2021.

Considering the present strength of the ruling party (207 in a House of 294 elected members), my eyebrows shot up a few significant millimeters on hearing this.

But the birdie emphasized that the exercise is on and that it may take a long time. 

Hmmm... Obviously... dismissing a democratically elected government on issues like law-and-order will only strengthen Mamata's hand.

So, has Mukulda prematurely let the cat out of the bag?

I wonder!

(This post is the musings of Jayanta Bhattacharya. It has nothing to do with where he works or what he does to earn his bread. In case of any criticism or suggestion, write to @Jayantab15 on Twitter / Facebook or jayantab15@gmail.com on email)

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