Kolkata, July 24: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be going to New Delhi on July 27 to join the movement led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against the NEET exam paper leak.

At the same time, she announced the appointment of four‑time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Dum Dum constituency in North 24 Parganas district, Saugata Roy, as the deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha.

Roy replaces four‑time Lok Sabha member from Birbhum constituency, Satabdi Roy, an actress‑turned‑politician, who is among the 20 erstwhile Trinamool Congress parliamentarians to have recently shifted to the Tripura‑based Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) soon after the recently concluded West Bengal polls where Trinamool Congress faced a landslide defeat.

With these 20 Lok Sabha members shifting to NCPI, the current strength of Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha is just eight. Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and three‑time Lok Sabha member from Diamond Harbour constituency in South 24 Parganas district is currently the leader of the Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha.

To recall, while addressing Trinamool Congress’s Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata on July 21, Mamata Banerjee expressed solidarity with the movement led by CJP in New Delhi. She said she would soon join the protest.

However, it is not clear whether she will make only a token presence at the sit‑in demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi or actively participate in the protest.

It is also not clear whether joining the CJP‑led movement will be her only scheduled programme in the capital or whether she will also hold meetings with leaders of different opposition parties, especially the Congress leadership.

On July 21, Mamata Banerjee called upon all opposition parties to unite under the INDIA (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance) bloc and jointly organise nationwide movements against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

--IANS