New Delhi:
A little-known political outfit that failed to make any electoral impact in the 2023 Tripura assembly elections has suddenly found itself at the centre of national politics after 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs announced their merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The development has transformed the obscure Bengal-based party into a key player in the unfolding political crisis within the Trinamool, drawing attention to the party’s origins, structure, leadership and internal functioning.
A Small Party With Big Political Relevance Overnight
The NCPI was registered with the Election Commission as a Registered Unrecognised Political Party (RUPP) on January 20, 2023, just weeks before the Tripura assembly elections. Despite being registered in Bengal, the party chose to make its electoral debut in Tripura.
According to Election Commission records, the party received total donations of just Rs 1.13 lakh.
Party documents list Shewly Kundu as the treasurer. She is also a director in two organisations registered at the same address as the political party: Biswabazar Private Limited (director since November 2021) and Paschim Banga Asangathita Mahila Karmi Association (director since October 2020), an organisation involved in social work activities.
The registered address of all three entities is located in Banipur area of Howrah district in Bengal. The party’s president is Uttiya Kundu, husband of Shewly Kundu. In one Facebook post, Uttiya Kundu shared a picture with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
Tripura Debut, Poor Electoral Performance
NCPI leader Shantanu Dey told NDTV the party entered Tripura politics with the stated aim of representing deprived tribal communities in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) region.
It fielded candidates in seven constituencies. However, nomination papers of candidates in four seats were rejected. Eventually, NCPI candidates contested in only two constituencies under the party symbol. The results were as follows: Chawmanu (536 votes), and Kailashahar (286 votes). Together, it got just 822 votes.
Shantanu Dey
A third candidate, Krishna Kumar Debbarma, contested from Ambassa as an independent and received 376 votes. Including him, the broader NCPI-backed effort secured 1,198 votes. None of the candidates came close to victory.
Several candidates who contested on NCPI tickets in Tripura claim the party disappeared after the elections. Jahangir Ali, the party’s candidate from Kailashahar, told NDTV over phone, “We were contacted to be candidates by Shewly Kundu, who came from Kolkata during the 2023 elections. After the polls they shut shop and went back. We also lost contact with them.”
Another former candidate, Barjeda Tripura, said, “I contested on their ticket after being introduced to party founder Shantanu De through a local contact. They did not ask me for any money and there was hardly any campaign. They mainly wanted candidates to contest. After the election, I completely lost touch with them.”
From Tripura To Parliament
Dey said they initially planned to contest the 2023 West Bengal panchayat elections, but were unable to do so. Internal disputes reportedly erupted after the Tripura elections, with disagreements over finances leading to organisational paralysis.
Dey said he later urged the party leadership to prepare for the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, but the proposal did not move forward due to lack of resources. Despite that limited political footprint, NCPI now finds itself linked to a group comprising nearly two-thirds of Trinamool MPs in the Lok Sabha.
The rebel MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking separate seating arrangements after announcing their split from the Trinamool. Following the meeting, rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the dissident camp had submitted a letter seeking recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
Trinamool leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay subsequently confirmed that the rebel faction had merged with NCPI, describing it as a regional political party. The merger has thrust NCPI into the national spotlight.
