Week after lunch with Amit Shah, tribal couple says `we like Mamata Banerjee`, joins Trinamool

Kolkata: A week after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah visited a couple's home in West Bengal's Naxalbari, and had lunch with them, the duo has joined the West Bengal ruling Trinamool Congress party. 

The couple, identified as Geeta and Raju Mahali, were welcomed as TMC members by state tourism minister Gautam Deb.

Shah, who is criss-crossing West Bengal as part of a 15-day 'Vistaar Yatra' had stopped by at the Mahalis' residence on 25 April and had a meal with them. 

A report in Hindustan Times claimed that the couple became members of the state's ruling dispensation less than a week later. 

The report also said Raju is a daily labourer who assists building painters, and his wife works in a tea garden. 

Meanwhile, BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh has alleged that the Naxalbari couple was kidnapped and forced to join the TMC. 

"Their body language when in the Trinamool Congress office indicated they were under pressure," Ghosh said. 

However, the allegation was quickly denied by the TMC. 

Tourism Minister Gautam Deb said that the couple joined the party of their own free will. 

It is to be noted that rumours of the couple going missing had surfaced on Tuesday, after they were missing for a few hours. However, later it turned out that the duo had taken a shelter at a Trinamool Congress' member's house to ensure that BJP could not trace them.