Kolkata, Jun 11: Senior TMC leader Saket Gokhale on Tuesday claimed that three BJP MPs from West Bengal are in touch with the party and the saffron party's tally in Parliament would soon come down to 237.

The comments drew sharp reactions from the West Bengal BJP unit, which dubbed the claim as "baseless" and asserted that the state unit stands united.

The Trinamool Congress secured 29 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.

The BJP, in contrast, faced a significant setback, dropping to 12 seats from the 18 it won in 2019.

"As of today, the numbers in the Lok Sabha are BJP: 240 INDIA: 237. Three BJP MPs in West Bengal are in touch with us and there will be a nice surprise soon. After that, BJP: 237 INDIA: 240.

"Modi's creaky coalition is a temporary structure which isn't going to last very long," Gokhale, a Rajya Sabha MP, posted on X.

In the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, the BJP with 240 seats fell short of a majority but the NDA secured the mandate with 293 seats. The Congress bagged 99 seats while the INDIA bloc got 234 seats. Following the polls, two Independents who won have also pledged support to the Congress, taking the INDIA bloc tally to 236.

Reacting to Gokhale's claim, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the TMC is "daydreaming".

"Since 2014, the TMC has been daydreaming of becoming the pivotal force in the union government but its hopes were dashed not once but thrice. The BJP and NDA stand united. No BJP MP from Bengal is in touch with the TMC," he said.

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Bengaluru, Jul 26: Tension prevailed at the Bengaluru City Railway Station when a consignment of meat weighing about three tonnes loaded in about 150 cartons reached here from Jaipur in a train on Friday night, railway sources said.

Puneeth Kerehalli, a cow vigilante, earlier jailed on murder charge, claimed it was dog meat. However, meat dealer Abdul Razzaq, who had ordered the meat, dismissed the charge.

The consignment was ordered legally and it is not dog meat but sheep meat, he said.

"We have legal documents to prove it. One can see the tail of the animal that was slaughtered. It's sheep and not dog," the meat trader said.

He alleged that Kerehalli wanted to make money by levelling false accusation.

Due to the commotion, a large number of people gathered there, and seeing the situation, police have been deployed.

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