Massive Defection Hits TMC: 20 Rebel MPs Merge with NCPI, Seek Separate Bloc in Lok Sabha
In what is turning out to be one of the largest parliamentary coups in modern Indian political history, 20 out of the 28 Lok Sabha MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have formally broken away from the party. The dissident camp, led by veteran leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in New Delhi to declare that they have officially merged with a Tripura-based regional outfit, the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The rebel faction, which includes prominent figures like Arup Chakraborty, Saayoni Ghosh, Yusuf Pathan, and Deepak Adhikari (Dev), has petitioned the Speaker for recognition as a separate legislative bloc, while formally pledging their allegiance to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Breaking the Cycle of Political Violence: Arup Chakraborty Explains the Move
Speaking on behalf of the dissident lawmakers, Bankura MP Arup Chakraborty defended the dramatic political realignment. He sharply criticized the perpetual center-state blame game and argued that West Bengal’s toxic cycle of retaliatory political violence needs to be buried permanently in favor of cooperative federalism.
- Condemning Decades of Non-Performance: Chakraborty lamented that despite fifty years of political shifts in West Bengal, the common citizen has gained nothing. He pointed out the continuous friction where “one side says Delhi doesn’t give funds [and] the other says the state doesn’t deliver.”
- The “Joint-Engine” Governance Approach: Explaining the ideological shift to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, he stated that a new era of governance must begin where the state and central governments work in lockstep rather than constant confrontation.
- An End to Political Bloodshed: Addressing the deep-seated political hostility that has plagued West Bengal for generations, Chakraborty made an impassioned plea for peace:
“We want to put an end to bloodshed. Engage in politics freely… That cycle of violence, killing during one term, then the other side retaliating in the next, cannot go on…”
Key Leaders in the Rebel Camp
By mobilizing 20 MPs, the rebel faction comfortably crosses the two-thirds threshold (requiring at least 19 of TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha members) necessary to seek protection under the Tenth Schedule (Anti-Defection Law).
| Rebel Faction Highlights | Notable Signatories & Prominent Faces |
| Senior Leadership | Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Satabdi Roy, Mala Roy |
| Star Power & High-Profile Names | Yusuf Pathan (Cricketer), Deepak Adhikari (Dev), Saayoni Ghosh, June Maliah, Rachna Banerjee, Prasun Banerjee (Footballer) |
| Regional Layout | Arup Chakraborty (Bankura), Partha Bhowmik, Sharmila Sarkar, Jagadish Basunia, Kalipada Soren, Mitali Bag, Bapi Haldar, Khalilur Rehman, Abu Taher Khan, Asit Mal |
Constitutional War: TMC Fights Back to Disqualify Rebels
The mainstream TMC leadership, severely weakened by the defection following a rough showing in the state assembly elections, has launched an aggressive legal counter-offensive.
TMC Parliamentary Party Leader Abhishek Banerjee immediately dispatched a formal letter to Speaker Om Birla via MPs Kirti Azad and Sagarika Ghose. Citing the Supreme Court’s landmark 2023 judgment in the Maharashtra political crisis (Subhash Desai v. Governor of Maharashtra), Abhishek argued that the defense of a mere “split” was legally deleted from the Tenth Schedule in 2003.
The TMC brass maintains that a legislative group cannot unilaterally merge with another party unless the original parent political party itself merges. Prominent independent MP and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal backed TMC’s stance, calling the move a “theatre of the absurd” and demanding the immediate disqualification of the 20 rebels. The Speaker’s office is currently verifying the signatures before delivering a definitive constitutional ruling on the validity of the merger.
