New Delhi:
The National Citizens Party of India (NCPI), into which the 20 rebel Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs have merged, has been invited by the Centre to Sunday’s all-party meeting even though Speaker Om Birla has not announced a decision on the merger. The decision has kicked off a political row, with the Trinamool calling it a “mockery of democracy”.
On Saturday morning, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote to senior MP and Trinamool rebel Sudip Bandyopadhyay, referring to him as the leader of the NCPI in the Lok Sabha and inviting him to the meeting of floor leaders scheduled for July 19. The communication also names Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as the party’s Chief Whip.
The NCPI, formed in 2023, was a little-known outfit until the Trinamool Congress MPs announced last month that they would be merging with the party.
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According to sources, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and 19 other MPs have informed the Speaker that they have joined the NCPI and sought official recognition as a separate parliamentary group. The government’s decision to include the group in the all-party meeting was being viewed as a strong indication that the recognition could be granted before Parliament convenes for the Monsoon Session.
In a party position document released on Saturday evening, however, the Lok Sabha Secretariat only said that the 20 rebels would sit separately from their eight former colleagues in the Trinamool Congress.
This left room for doubt, and senior Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien pounced on the opportunity.
“CHEATING. Mocking our democracy. Speaker has referred to 20 traitors as still being TMC MPs… Minister invites traitors for all-party meet and refers to them as NCPI,” he wrote on X.
Asked about this, government sources clarified that the MPs themselves have said they are no longer part of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
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”These MPs have consistently maintained that they are no longer part of the Trinamool Congress and are functioning as the NCPI parliamentary group. The all-party meeting is meant to hear the views of all parties and groups represented in Parliament, and the invitations have been issued on that basis,” said a source.
The sources said the 20 MPs seeking recognition as the NCPI currently under consideration of the Speaker, and a decision is expected in due course.
Sudip Bandyopadhyay also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
Shiv Sena Victory
The same document from the Lok Sabha Secretariat contained a big win for the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena, with the merger of six MPs from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena being approved.
The six MPs – Omraje Nimbalkar, Sanjay Dina Patil, Sanjay Deshmukh, Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar – will now function as official members of the Shinde faction, taking its tally in the Lok Sabha to 13.
“All the MPs who have joined us have done so to ensure justice for the people in their constituencies. We are here to unite, not to divide. It is the responsibility of MPs to work for the public. No one has joined us for personal gain. They have come so that people can benefit,” Shinde said.
