How did BJP grow? Rahul Gandhi asks Trinamool Congress MPs

NEW DELHI: After her bitter break up with the Congress midway through the UPA-2 regime, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee may not see eye-to-eye with the party leadership but that did not stop Rahul Gandhi from spending time chatting with two TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Rahul walked up to TMC MPs Saugata Ray and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar in the rear seats of the opposition benches in Lok Sabha and sat chatting with them for almost 45 minutes.

Interestingly, the issues Rahul took up for the informal chat with the senior MPs were essentially about the BJP, it is learnt. How BJP grew to such strength in the 16th Lok Sabha was one of his basic queries.

Rahul was also trying to understand from the TMC MPs whether communal issues would spread in Uttar Pradesh, since the largest state has not sent a single Muslim MP from the BJP stable.

The third issue that Rahul took up with the TMC leaders was the possibility of BJP making major gains in West Bengal, where BJP has already made a mark with rise in the party's vote share. The TMC versus BJP battle in Bengal has only grown after the elections with BJP accusing the ruling party in the state of attacking its workers and supporters in many districts.

Interestingly, while Rahul held a friendly chat with the TMC MPs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent out friendly vibes to Mamata Banerjee while speaking on the President's in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. "My sister Mamata is working so hard to throw out the ills in the state gathered over 35 years (Left Front rule)... I appreciate her stand," Modi said.

Coming after the bitter exchanges that Mamata and Modi had during the election campaign and the continuing TMC versus BJP battle in the state, Modi's appreciation of Mamata in the House caught everyone's attention.