Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay met Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhupender Yadav in Delhi, fuelling speculation that another Lok Sabha lawmaker may join the party's rebel group.
Bandyopadhyay, accompanied by dissident MP Satabdi Roy, met Yadav amid buzz that the rebel group may meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday to seek recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
The TMC removed Bandyopadhyay from the post of North Kolkata organisational district president, replacing him with party's state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
Former minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia also quit the TMC, and the party's youth congress president Saayoni Ghosh was replaced with Arnab Banerjee.
The rebel MPs are relying on their legislative strength both in the assembly as well as Parliament to stake claim to being recognised as the real TMC.
The group is also scheduled to meet West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday.
