Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is set to allot new division numbers or seats to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) last month, two of whom are scheduled to attend the upcoming all-party meeting before the monsoon session, in what is a virtual acknowledgment of the controversial merger and the young outfit in Parliament.
“We have met the Speaker of Parliament. He assured that we will get an office in Parliament and new seats will be allotted to us. Our representatives will attend the all-party meeting on July 19,” Parasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who is set to be the NDP’s principal in the House, told HT.
In the wake of the electoral defeat of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the West Bengal Assembly elections, 60 legislators elected from the TMC symbol have formed a separate group in the Bengal Assembly. Separately, 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs decided to merge with the NCPI and joined the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
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Three of the 13 TMC members have resigned and are expected to return to the Senate later this month as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates after the by-elections in West Bengal.
The NCPI merger is expected to be formally recognized before the monsoon session starting on July 20. “The Speaker will take a decision on the two pending applications (of TMC and Sena UBT rebels) soon. Once the decision is taken, the notification will be made public,” a senior Lok Sabha official said. Six of the nine Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Lok Sabha members joined the Shiv Sena last month.
According to a TMC leader, the Speaker’s Office is expected to send a letter soon regarding the proposed allocation of seats in the House of Representatives. Some rebel leaders have camped in Delhi where they must agree to the new arrangement.
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After their meeting with Birla on Monday, the TMC rebels are hopeful that the NCPI merger will get necessary approvals before the start of the monsoon session. An official said the decision to allocate a new office and new seats is an indication that the merger may get the green flag.
If approved, the merger would elevate the Indian National Congress, which currently has no legislators, as the BJP’s biggest ally.
There was no immediate response from the TMC faction led by Mamata Banerjee.
Ahead of the session, Sena (UBT) leader Aravind Sawant claimed that the Act (10th Schedule) does not allow merger of the six UBT legislators with the Sena.
“The Shiv Sena (UBT), the parent party, has not and cannot merge with any other party. As per the law, representatives of the public have no right to merge on their own without the consent of the parent party. The so-called ‘merger’ claim is completely illegal on the face of it. The official role of the party is communicated to the MPs concerned through a certified letter. We have also sent a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in this regard,” it said.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in the Maharashtra political crisis case – which made a sharp distinction between a political party and its legislative wing – argued that no group of members could form a parallel faction and demand independent recognition in the House.
In the run-up to the session, the NDA could approach the two-thirds majority mark if the speaker approves the mergers.
But it will need the support of 40 other representatives to pass the constitutional amendment bills.
