Twenty Trinamool Congress legislators on Sunday announced to the Lok Sabha Speaker that they would merge with another party and support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the House.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is facing a crisis after the party’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections last month. At least 58 MLAs rebelled and formed a separate bloc in the West Bengal Assembly, choosing ousted party leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the opposition.
In the Lok Sabha, 20 MPs from the rebel party have merged with the National Citizens Party of India, or NCPI, a little-known party that has come into the spotlight after Trinamul leaders’ decision to join it.
A BJP MP involved in the discussions told HT that NCPI was chosen to maintain insurgent connectivity with West Bengal while expanding its symbolic reach to the northeast.
Read also | Anti-defection law: Why 20 Trinamool leaders joining party without MLAs is a constitutional mystery
What do we know about NCPI?
Trinamool MPs, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, former floor leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Shatabdi Roy, and a cross-section of the party’s Lok Sabha squad that included representatives Deepak Adhikari, Sayoni Ghosh, John Mallya, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan and former Indian football captain Prasun Banerjee, are among the leaders who have submitted letters to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking a merger with NCPI.
The Tripura-based NCPI is an obscure party, and does not hold any elected representative or seat anywhere in India. Bandopadhyay, one of the rebel MPs, said the NSP is a “recognised regional party”. The party, registered in 2022, last contested a contested election in 2023, fielding four candidates in the Tripura Assembly elections.
These four seats are Chawamanu, Ambasa, Karamchara and Kailashahar. However, its candidates finished behind NOTA, with some receiving a few extra votes. With the merger of TMC deputies, the Indonesian National Assembly’s logo is now in the spotlight, ANI reported. “Reject political apostates to preserve your rights,” it says.
While running in the recent elections, the party’s campaign posters carried the following message: “In order to save your rights, reject renegade politicians. Support social workers, not political figures.”
The party’s symbol was the nib, which was reportedly assigned to it as an unrecognized registered political party.
An Unrecognized Registered Political Party (RUPP) is a political organization officially registered with the Election Commission of India (ECI) under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. However, it is ‘unrecognised’ because it may not have met the stringent electoral voting criteria required to rise to the level of a ‘state’ or ‘national’ party.
How did NCPI’s founder react to the merger?
NCPI founder and national organizing secretary Shantanu Dey, while talking to ANI, expressed his willingness to participate and discuss further plans with the MPs who have merged with the party. While he stated that he was not previously aware of the merger because the decision may have been made by the party president, Day said he was committed to the growth of the party.
“I learned about this through social media and news. I welcome them to have conversations with me. Why wouldn’t I be happy if my party grows? I heard that the decision was taken by the party president. He has not contacted me about this matter yet,” he told ANI. Dey added that he wants to “take the party forward” and expressed his support for the NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
