Is Mamata Banerjee’s political hold weakening due to the rebellion in TMC? What impact will the NDA support of 20 TMC MPs have on Bengal politics? Will Mamata Banerjee be able to stop the growing resentment in her party? Will the split in TMC affect the 2029 Lok Sabha elections?
Rebel TMC MPs To Support NDA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee has suffered a major political setback. 20 Lok Sabha MPs of the party have written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing their desire to support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). According to news agency PTI report, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that 20 MPs including him have decided to support the NDA. This development has created a stir in the politics of West Bengal.
Who are the rebel TMC MPs?
While on one hand Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and other senior leaders attended the meeting of opposition alliance ‘India’, on the other hand 20 Lok Sabha MPs of the party held a meeting with Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. This meeting took place at the residence located at 9 Motilal Nehru Marg. The MPs attending the meeting included Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Shatabdi Roy, Bapi Halder, Arup Chakraborty, June Malih, Deepak Adhikari, Kalipada Soren, Jagdeep Basunia, Asit Mal, Abu Taher, Khalilur Rahman, Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Banerjee, Shatrughan Sinha, Pratima Mondal and Partho Bhowmik and many other MPs. It is being told that these MPs have also demanded from the Speaker to make arrangements for separate sitting in the Lok Sabha.
What did Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar say?
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that she accepts the mandate of West Bengal and believes that her political future will be more secure with the NDA. He also indicated that in view of the changing political situation in the state, many MPs want to choose a new political direction.
Had met Suvendu Adhikari earlier also
Earlier also, 16 MPs of the party under the leadership of Sukhendu Roy and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar had met Suvendu Adhikari amid discussions of a possible break in TMC. Even at that time, there was speculation in political circles that some MPs of the party were angry with the leadership and were looking for new political options.
What are the rules under anti-defection law?
If two-thirds of Trinamool Congress MPs leave the party together, the anti-defection law will not apply to them. According to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, at least 19 TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha will have to leave the party for it to be considered a valid split. In such a situation, there will be no immediate threat to the membership of MPs.
Sukhendu Roy made serious allegations against Mamata government
Earlier, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Roy had resigned from Rajya Sabha membership. While resigning, he had made serious allegations against the Mamata Banerjee led government like corruption and atrocities against women. He had said that he was dissatisfied with the working style of the state government and hence he decided to leave the party.