The crisis in the Trinamool Congress deepened on Sunday as rebel MPs announced their merger with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India. The 20 rebel MPs also met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking a separate seating arrangement in the House hours after TMC parliamentary party leader Abhishek Banerjee urged him not to accord any recognition to the breakaway faction.
Banerjee requested that the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) be treated as a single political party represented in the House only through its duly authorised leader and whip and that the party be given an opportunity to present its case before any decision is taken on any communication from dissident MPs.
Responding to the rebel MPs merging with the NCPI, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh called it a betrayal of Mamata Banerjee and those who voted for them.
Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal called the rebel MPs merging with the NCP “theatre of the absurd ” and stated that the party should “disqualify them”.
West Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh said that the decision on whether rebel TMC MPs would be recognised as a separate group rests with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Who are the rebel MPs?
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Barasa), Sudip Bandopadhyay (Kolkata Uttar), Shatabdi Ray (Birbhum), Deepak Adhikari / Dev (Ghatal), Saayoni Ghosh (Jadavpur), Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur), June Maliah (Medinipur), Rachna Banerjee (Hooghly), Prasun Banerjee (Howrah), Mala Roy (Kolkata South), Partha Bhowmick (Barrackpore), Arup Chakraborty (Bankura), Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia (Cooch Behar), Abu Taher Khan (Murshidabad), Khalilur Rahaman (Jangipur), Asit Kumar Mal (Bolpur), Sharmila Sarkar (Bardhaman Purba), Mitali Bag (Arambagh), Bapi Haldar (Mathurapur), and Kalipada Soren (Jhargram).
MPs who are still with Mamata Banerjee
Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour), Sougata Ray (Dum Dum), Kalyan Banerjee (Serampore), Mahua Moitra (Krishnanagar) Kirti Azad (Bardhaman-Durgapur), Pratima Mondal (Joynagar), and Sajda Ahmed (Uluberia)
Asansol MP Shatrughan Sinha’s name has emerged in both rebel and Mamata factions. Sinha has dismissed rumors of joining the rebels, stating he will not leave Banerjee during a “difficult time”
