A little-known political outfit that struggled to make an 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 it and sought recognition as a separate group in Parliament.
The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), registered in 2023 ahead of the Tripura Assembly elections, was virtually unknown outside a handful of constituencies in Tripura and parts of West Bengal until Sunday’s dramatic political developments thrust it into the spotlight.
The move came amid an escalating rebellion within the Trinamool Congress, with dissident MPs meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and seeking separate seating arrangements in the House.
“We have merged with the NCPI. We will decide our strategy over time,” rebel TMC MP Satabdi Roy told reporters after meeting the Speaker.
Asked about the party symbol, Roy said, “We did not claim it. The Speaker will decide what to do.”
FROM TRIPURA FRINGE OUTFIT TO NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The NCPI was formed in 2023 and has had a presence primarily in Tripura and West Bengal. However, its electoral footprint has been extremely limited.
According to party functionaries, Shantanu Saha oversees the party’s activities in Tripura, while Tarun Kumar Roy is associated with its operations from Kolkata.
So far, the party has contested only the 2023 Tripura Assembly elections.
Election records show that the NCPI fielded candidates in four constituencies – Chawamanu, Ambassa, Karamchara and Kailashahar.
Its campaign slogan was strikingly anti-defection in tone: “To save your rights, reject political turncoats. Support social workers, not political personalities.”
The party contested on the pen nib symbol, allotted to it as a registered unrecognised political party.
HOW DID NCPI FARE IN THE POLLS?
The results offered little indication that the party would one day become the vehicle for a major parliamentary realignment.
In Chawamanu, NCPI candidate Barjeda Tripura secured 536 votes and finished fifth, only marginally ahead of the NOTA tally of 500 votes.
The constituency was won by BJP candidate Sambhu Lal Chakma, who defeated TIPRA Motha’s Hangsa Kumar Tripura by 2,899 votes.
The party’s other candidates also failed to make a mark.
While TIPRA Motha won Karamchara and Ambassa, the Congress emerged victorious in Kailashahar.
Another NCPI candidate, Jahangir Ali, contested from Kailashahar in Unakoti district during the election.
CANDIDATE LEFT STUNNED
Perhaps the most surprising reaction came from Barjeda Tripura himself, one of the party’s former candidates.
Speaking to PTI after learning about the merger, the 62-year-old daily wage labourer expressed disbelief.
“I contested the polls in 2023. What has happened now, three years later?” he asked after being informed that a group of Lok Sabha MPs had joined the party under whose banner he had contested.
Barjeda said he entered the electoral fray after being approached by a person named Krishna Debbarma.
“In 2023, a person called Krishna Debbarma reached out to me about the election. So I contested. Many years ago, I was a supporter of the Congress,” he said.
His election affidavit from 2023 listed assets worth Rs 4 lakh and described him as a social worker educated up to Class 8.
WHY NCPI MATTERS NOW
The party’s sudden rise to prominence is directly linked to the rebellion within the Trinamool Congress.
After meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said two-thirds of the TMC’s Lok Sabha members had submitted a letter seeking recognition as a separate group.
“Two-thirds of the TMC MPs have given a letter to the speaker for a separate seating arrangement. We will merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India and support the NDA,” she said.
Senior TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay also confirmed that the dissident camp had merged with the NCPI, describing it as a regional party.
The development has transformed the NCPI overnight from a little-known registered unrecognised political party into a key player in one of the biggest political upheavals facing the Trinamool Congress.
WHAT IS A REGISTERED UNRECOGNISED PARTY?
Registered unrecognised political parties are organisations registered with the Election Commission but which have not yet met the criteria required to be recognised as either a state party or a national party.
While such parties often remain on the fringes of electoral politics, the NCPI’s sudden acquisition of 20 Lok Sabha MPs has propelled it into the national conversation, giving it a visibility that far exceeds its electoral record so far.
– Ends
With inputs from Indrajit Kundu and Tanmay Singh.
Published By:
Sonali Verma
Published On:
Jun 15, 2026 10:27 IST
