As the Parliament Monsoon Session begins on July 20, the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) traded barbs against each other, with the former claiming that it recognised by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The NCPI’s reaction came after the opposition staged a symbolic boycott from an all-party meeting for inviting the rebel TMC faction to it.
Criticising the opposition, particularly the TMC, NCPI leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said his party is now the second largest constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar will submit all the required documents to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The party, which also held its first Parliamentary Party meeting earlier in the day, announced Dastidar will be its chief whip, while Bandyopadhyay will be its leader. “We are completely relieved from all these tensions and now NCPI will function on the floor of the house according to how the NDA will take decisions,” Bandyopadhyay, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, said.
Meanwhile, Dastidar called opposition’s move to boycott the all-party meeting “unprecedented and unbecoming”, adding that a democracy does not work like this. She reiterated that all parties must keep their political differences aside and work together for India’s development.
TMC calls for disqualification of NCPI leaders
On the other hand, the TMC has called for a disqualification of the NCPI leaders, with Mahua Moitra saying calling them ‘traitors’. The Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar said the NCPI is an unrecognised party and its merger is yet to be approved by Birla.
“The 20 disqualification petitions are still pending. After the 91st amendment, there is no room for a separate bloc. So on what grounds did the Parliamentary Affairs Minister extend an invitation to these 20 rebel MPs and how are they attending this meeting?” she said.
But on his party , said it was government’s duty to invite all parties for the meeting and it couldn’t be ignored.
Dastidar, Bandyopadhyay and 18 others had rebelled against the TMC leadership after it lost the 2026 West Bengal elections. Later, they joined the NCPI, reducing TMC’s strength in Lok Sabha to eight from 28. With the Monsoon Session beginning on Monday, Birla has approved a separate seating for the 20 NCPI leaders.