20 TMC MPs Officially Merge with Tripura based Nationalist Citizens Party

Dissident TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar announced that 20 dissident Lok Sabha MPs are joining the Tripura based Nationalist Citizens Party after meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla om Sunday. “Going forward, we will work for the country and cooperate with the NDA (National democratic Alliance) led by Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), Ghosh declared.

20 Lok Sabha MPs endorsed her. In the Lok Sabha, the TMC has 28 members. In order to avoid being disqualified under the 10th schedule of the constitution, the rebels require two-third of the block of 19 MPs. Ghosh stated, “We, the 20 MPs Elected from the AITC, met with the speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately. These 20 MP constitute more than two third of our total strength.”

TMC Crisis Reviewed

After losing the West Bengal Assembly Elections, the TMC has been dealing with the significant internal uprising among its people. With only 80 of the 294 Assembly seats the party lost control of Bengal after 15 years.

A few weeks following the defeat, expelled TMC MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha sent a letter. The supported Mamata Banerjee as the party’s leader and claiming of 60 other leaders. Ritabrata’s name was also suggested for the position of leader of the opposition in the letter. It was signed by 58 MLAs. Many saw the action as an attempt to distance himself from Abhishek. Ritabrata has frequently accused him of managing the party more like a business than a political movement.

A few days later, the party’s parliamentary unit broke. 20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs, led by Chief Whip Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, wrote to the speaker expressing support for the BJP-led NDA. According to her, the decision to secede was made following discussions with other MPs.

“There can be no split” wrote Abhishek Banerjee to the speaker of the Lok Sabha

Before the split, Abhishek Banerjee wrote to the Speaker, requesting 3 things.

1. Submission must be properly “placed on record” in order to challenge the legetimacy of any rival “group” or “faction”.
2. To deny validity to “purported separate groups.” Acknowledge AITC as a unified organisation represented only by its authorised leader
3. To provide the AITC a chance to be heard before making any decisions about these communications.