To merge with Nationalist Citizens Party
NEW DELHI, JUN 14 (AGENCIES): Twenty rebel Lok Sabha MPs of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday announced their decision to merge with the Nationalist Citizens’ Party (NCP), a little-known Bengali-oriented regional party from Tripura, after meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitting a formal letter.
Announcing the decision, rebel faction leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the group, which claims the support of two-thirds of TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs, would sit separately in Parliament and support the NDA government. “We command a two-thirds majority. We will be part of the NDA and work under the leadership of the Prime Minister,” she said.
The move is expected to deepen the crisis within the TMC and significantly reduce Opposition strength in the Lok Sabha ahead of the upcoming Monsoon Session. Sources said the merger route was chosen to avoid legal complications that could arise from forming a separate faction.
Senior MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee and among the last to join the rebel camp, said the merger with the NCP was only the first step. He said the group would later seek recognition as the “real” Trinamool Congress. “When you leave with two-thirds of the party, you cannot demand the party name immediately. In July, we will seek the Trinamool name since we have two-thirds majority. Then the court will decide,” he said.
The development drew sharp criticism from the TMC leadership. Senior leader Madan Mitra accused the rebel MPs of betraying the party and the mandate they received under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.
“They contested under the Trinamool symbol and promised to strengthen the party. Now they have moved away from that promise,” Mitra said, adding that the party’s legal response would depend on Mamata Banerjee.
Earlier, TMC MPs Sagarika Ghose and Kirti Azad met Speaker Om Birla and submitted a letter from party general secretary and parliamentary leader Abhishek Banerjee, arguing that only the political party—not the legislature party—can claim legitimacy.
The letter cited court rulings and stated that the law does not recognise rival factions of the same political party. It argued that the Speaker’s role is to determine which group represents the “one true political party” and not to grant separate recognition to a breakaway faction.