Calcutta, Oct. 13 : A Trinamul MLA convicted in a railway scrap theft case today attended a programme where Mamata Banerjee met newly elected councillors of Bidhannagar, Asansol and Bally, and was seen speaking with ministers Partha Chatterjee and Aroop Biswas.

Raniganj MLA Mohammed Sohrab Ali had come with his wife Nargis Banu, who had contested the Greater Asansol Municipal Corporation polls as an Independent backed by Trinamul. She was today inducted into the party by Trinamul all-India general secretary Subrata Bakshi.

An Asansol court had last month sentenced Ali to two years' imprisonment in a two-decade-old railway scrap theft case. The MLA has since appealed in Calcutta High Court against the sentence.

Although according to a 2013 Supreme Court verdict elected representatives convicted of murder, rape and other serious offences stand disqualified, Ali continues to remain an MLA.

Ali was today all smiles at Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra as Mamata called to the dais the newly elected councillors. The MLA kept his distance from Mamata but was seen speaking with Chatterjee and Biswas.

"Had he been seen by Didi's side, it could have caused much embarrassment to the party. But by inducting Ali's wife into Trinamul, Didi has made it clear that she has no immediate plans of taking action against Ali," a Trinamul insider said.

Asked about the case against him, the Raniganj MLA said: "That was a conspiracy against me. I don't want to talk about it."

Taking a dig at the induction of Ali's wife into Trinamul, CPM state secretariat member Rabin Deb said: "What is so surprising? This is what Trinamul stands for."