Kolkata, June 11 (IANS) Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on Thursday asserted that party supremo and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should be at the “forefront” of the Opposition’s fight against the BJP.

His reaction came amid reports of Trinamool’s merger with the Congress, which the latter has termed “rumours” and “baseless”.

In an interaction with IANS, Saugata Roy said: “I want the Trinamool and Congress to work in a close alliance to remove and defeat the BJP. That is all I want.”

“I believe that if we have to fight against the BJP, Mamata Banerjee should be at the forefront. That is all I care about,” he added.

Roy refused to comment on Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee’s remarks against party General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, saying: “Kalyan Banerjee is very close to Mamata Banerjee, so the decision will be between the two of them.”

Earlier in the day, Kalyan Banerjee attacked the Diamond Harbour MP for his “arrogance” and “misbehaviour” and warned he could quit if Mamata Banerjee felt that she could not run it without her nephew.

According to Roy, the party won’t take any drastic step against Kalyan Banerjee for his remarks. “He has good relations with Mamata Banerjee; they will talk and sort it out,” he said.

Saugata Roy blamed the BJP for the ongoing dissent within the Trinamool.

“This is the old technique of BJP and RSS, to spread lies. There are two things in the ongoing ‘Operation Lotus’, one is to tempt people and the other is to intimidate them using ED and CBI.”

Responding to questions over the rebel Trinamool MPs supporting the NDA, Roy said: “Who have gone or not gone, I don’t know. Mala Roy and Saayoni Ghosh, I spoke to both of them three days ago. They said they are not going. If they change their decision within three days, then what can we do?”

Moreover, he claimed that rebel MP Satabdi Roy was “already planning to shift” to the BJP.

“I called her one day, she said that she was returning from Tokyo and was not aware of anything. But I know that several BJP leaders have very good contact with Satabdi,” he stated.

However, he maintained that no one can be ousted from the political outfit for being in touch with leaders of the rival party. “One cannot be expelled on conjecture,” he said.

While emphasising that he will continue to be a part of the Trinamool, being led by Mamata Banerjee, Saugata Roy said that the former Chief Minister should reach out to the rebel MPs for a possible reconciliation.

–IANS

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