Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) legislators with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Sena and allocated a separate seating arrangement for the 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs ahead of the monsoon Parliament session.
The rebels’ plan to get recognition as members of the National Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a regular party based in West Bengal and Tripura, is still awaiting approval from the top office in the Lok Sabha.
A senior official claimed that the issue of merger of the TMC rebels is “under study” and “an appropriate decision will be taken soon”. Two TMC rebels told HT they hoped it would be approved within a day or two.
Judgment The National Democratic Alliance will have 319 MPs in the Lok Sabha, still 41 short of a two-thirds majority of 360 in the lower house. The Sena has emerged as the second largest ally after the TDP, with 15 members – 13 in the Lok Sabha and 2 in the Senate.
An internal circular issued by the Lok Sabha table office on Saturday said: “As a result of the change in party affiliation of six members of the Shiv Sena UBT in the Lok Sabha, the revised party position has been included in the 18th Lok Sabha.”
The generalization was shown 13 legislators from Shiv Sena and Sena left UBT along with 3 MPs. The circular also added that 20 TMC members will sit separately.
The changes come ahead of the all-party meeting on Sunday morning and the monsoon period from Monday onwards. Interestingly, the government has already invited the rebels TMC leaders will attend the meeting as representatives of NCPI.
“Recently, you and 19 other MPs have joined NCPI and have already requested the Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha for recognition, which is under consideration,” a letter from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to Sudip Bandopadhyay said. Bandhopadhyay also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening.
TMC Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien criticized the Speaker’s decision to allow separate benches.
“A mockery of our democracy. The Speaker referred to 20 traitors as still being MPs in the TMC. Minutes later, Modi’s Minister Shah called the traitors to an all-party meeting and referred to them as NCPI,” he tweeted.
The TMC rebels, led by Sudip Bandopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, had met with Birla on June 14 to apply for merger. Around the same time, six Sena MPs met Birla for a similar purpose.
Birla met both the TMC leadership, including party leader Abhishek Banerjee, and Sena UBT brass.
Earlier this week, rebel TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar told HT that the TMC leader had assured the group that they would get a separate office and seating arrangements in Parliament, which was an indirect acknowledgment of the merger with NCPI.
