TMC turmoil deepens: Rebel camp to merge with NCPI, extends support to NDA; party MPs call it “betrayal”

New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): The political turmoil within the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) escalated sharply on Sunday as a significant faction of the party announced a rebellion. Rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar confirmed that 20 Lok Sabha MPs have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and will now extend their support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Following a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Ghosh Dastidar stated that the group, which she claims constitutes more than two-thirds of the party's strength, has requested a separate sitting in Parliament.
Speaking with ANI, Dastidar said that the rebel MPs submitted a letter requesting a separate sitting in the Parliament. She said that the MPs will "collaborate" with NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
"We, the twenty MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately; these twenty MPs constitute more than two-thirds of our total strength. We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party. Moving forward, we will work for the nation and collaborate with the NDA under the leadership of the Prime Minister," she said.

TMC rebel MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay seconded Ghosh's remarks and affirmed that the "real TMC" will be decided in the court.
"We have joined the Nationalist Citizens' Party. This is a political party. It is a recognised regional party. We have merged with it. It will be decided in the court which one the real TMC is," he said.
He said that the Lok Sabha speaker verified their signatures for the demand of a separate sitting and said that the MPs constitute two-thirds of the majority. He affirmed that in July, the rebel MPs will demand to claim the name of the party, Trinamool Congress.
"Om Birla verified all the signatures. There were 20 signatures. It is 2/3rd now. This is the system. When you leave with 2/3rd of the party, you cannot demand the name of that party on the first day itself. In July, we will make a demand to give us Trinamool since we have 2/3rd majority from Trinamool. Then the court will decide," he said.

In Delhi, responding to the meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, rebel TMC MP Satabdi Roy confirmed the group's actions. She said, "We submitted a letter to the Speaker. We have merged with the NCPI (Nationalist Citizens Party of India) party".
Rebel TMC MP Arup Chakraborty said that the MPs put forth the demand for a bloc, adding that the speaker has agreed to it. He further extended support to the West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, on behalf of the rebel camp, and affirmed that the MPs will get support from the ruling BJP when needed.
"We met with the Speaker. We have submitted everything and demanded a bloc. We will receive it. We had a very nice and successful discussion with him. All 20 members were there. Our MPs will hold a meeting in the parliament, and the state government will help us, and we will help them. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister of West Bengal, our double-engine government wants to work for the interest of the nation. If the BJP asks for our help, we will help them, and if we want their help, we will ask for it. Everyone will work with unity."
He further recognised Saayoni Ghosh as their leader, stating, "Saayoni Ghosh is our leader. She was with us today."
Earlier in the day, Rebel TMC MPs Saayoni Ghosh, Mala Roy, Satabdi Roy, Arup Chakraborty, and Kakoli Ghosh also met with Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in the national capital.
Similarly, consultations also took place in Kolkata with TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh, Gautam Deb and Chandrima Bhattacharya reaching the residence of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.
On the other hand, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Members of Parliament, led by Kirti Azad and Sagarika Ghose, also met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to submit a formal representation against what they termed as an "unconstitutional" attempt to fragment the party within the House.
Speaking to the media following the submission of their application, Azad invoked recent judicial observations to bolster the party's stance.
"It is very clear. The Supreme Court constitutional bench has said, as mentioned in Article 4 of the 10th Schedule, there cannot be a split. What happened in Maharashtra is wrong. So, we have come here with an application over the same. We have submitted the application to the Speaker. We are fully confident that Speaker will act as per the rules, as he has done so far," he said.
He added that the party had already sent the representation by mail and submitted the hard copy at the Speaker's office.
Meanwhile, Sagarika Ghose reinforced that the TMC remains an "indivisible" political entity. She alleged that the defections were part of a broader pattern involving the use of "money and muscle power" to dismantle opposition parties.
"It is shameful that leaders of the All India Trinamool Congress, who won elections under the party's banner with Mamata Banerjee's face on posters, are now leaving the party after its defeat. Where are your principles, your ideology? You spent campaigns criticising the BJP, and now going after them for power. BJP has used money and muscle power to break parties, but the real disgrace is that senior TMC leaders, even those elected many times, surrendered their values to join the BJP. Everything is under public scrutiny. They watch, they remember, and they will teach you a lesson," she said in her self-made video.
Meanwhile, TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh condemned the rebel camp and called their move to defect from the party, "betrayal for every voter." He stated that the "anti-BJP" voters cast their votes for these MPs as TMC members, thereby recognising their decision to join the NDA as a treachery.
"You see, those MPs, they are not elected as independent MPs. They elected as Trinamool Congress and the voters who supported them, each and every voter who supported them, they are anti-BJP voters. Right? And now they are shifting to pro-BJP, NDA. So this is not a betrayal not only betrayal with Mamata Didi or Trinamool Congress but also betrayal with each and every voter of them," he said.
TMC MLA Madan Mitra expressed strong condemnation towards the rebel MPs and said that the actions of the MPs set a "bad precedent." He further hinted at foul play in the sudden decision of defection of MPs, stating, "Dal Mein Kuchh Kala Hai."
"I condemn the attitude of the Members of Parliament, as they won the election using the names and images of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC. This is treachery; yet, they claim they will form a new faction under their own leadership and fight in Parliament. Their faction has been rejected, and now they are going to join someone else's leadership to fight in Parliament. This sets a bad precedent and is highly unfortunate. I am proud to be a member of the Trinamool. 20 MPs cannot leave the party simply due to pressure; there is something else at play here. 'Dal Mein Kuchh Kala Hai'," he said.
Mitra stated he intended to discuss the matter at his party chairperson's residence. Mitra described the situation as "unfair," noting that the MPs had originally contested elections with the intent of strengthening the TMC under its leadership rather than forming an opposition party. Furthermore, he expressed doubt regarding the viability of their move, stating that not everyone would follow their path and that the group is too small to meet the requirements for forming a separate party.
"I am going into our party chairperson's residence and I will talk about this if I get a chance, but what happened is unfair. These people did not contest with the intention of forming another party in opposition to TMC, but with the intention of strengthening TMC, under the leadership. Now they backed off from that. Not everyone will do what they did... The number required to form a separate party cannot be met with such a small group," he said.
Senior party leader and MP Saugata Roy also launched a scathing attack on the dissident faction, claiming to be the "real TMC."
"We fought against the BJP and the NDA. Joining the NDA is immoral," Saugata Roy declared.
Speaking to ANI in Kolkata, Roy dismissed the significance of the rebels' move, asserting that their departure from the party was both expected and ideologically bankrupt.
"What can I say? These people have left our party. If they meet the BJP in charge of Operation Lotus in West Bengal, it is not surprising," Roy said, referring to the alleged orchestration by the BJP to induce defections.
The veteran parliamentarian maintained a firm stance on the party's core ideology, emphasising that the mandate received by the MPs in the 2024 general elections was based on their affiliation with the Trinamool Congress, not the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
He argued that the dissidents, who have claimed the support of 20 out of the party's 28 Lok Sabha MPs, are betraying the voters who elected them on a platform fundamentally opposed to the BJP's policies.
Turning his ire toward the growing number of Lok Sabha MPs defecting to the rebel camp, Ghosh challenged the ethics of the dissidents and questioned why those who secured electoral victories under the TMC symbol were not resigning their seats.
In Jaipur, Rajasthan, Congress MP Imran Masood addressed the ongoing developments regarding the rebel TMC MPs meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker. Masood suggested that observers should "let things unfold" while noting that Shatrughan Sinha has recently clarified his own position.
"Let things unfold. Recently, Shatrughan Sinha made his stand clear. The BJP's intention is to weaken the opposition. They broke parties to bring their own Leader of Opposition. In Tamil Nadu, when things didn't go their way, the state president resigned... BJP's actions across the country are eroding democracy," he said.
The remarks come amidst the ongoing political crisis within the Trinamool Congress, where 58 MLAs under the leadership of expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee in West Bengal, and 20 MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar in the Lok Sabha have rebelled against the party.
Three Rajya Sabha MPs, including Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev and Prakash Baraik, have also resigned from their upper house and party membership. (ANI)