The crisis within the Trinamool Congress deepened on Sunday after 20 rebel MPs decided to merge their faction with a little-known party, the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, and extend support to the NDA.
According to sources, the rebel Trinamool MPs decided to associate themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India due to legal complications in forming a separate bloc.
“We have joined the Nationalist Citizens’ Party. It is a recognised regional party. We have merged with it. It will be decided in the court which one the real TMC is,” said TMC rebel MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
The latest political twist comes hours after the rebel faction regrouped at Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s residence in Delhi following a meeting with Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Subsequently, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker asking him to treat the TMC as a single political party and not to accord any recognition or facility to any purported separate group or faction of the party.
Before the rebel MPs decided to merge with the little-known party, these meetings were being seen as an indication that the MPs would seek recognition as the “real TMC” in Parliament.
TOP MAMATA AIDE JOINS REBELS
Meanwhile, the rebel faction received a significant boost after Bandyopadhyay, a close confidant of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, expressed support for the group following meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Yadav on Saturday.
Bandyopadhyay said he shifted to the dissident camp following an appeal from rebel MPs and MLAs, but added that he was yet to sign the letter to be submitted to the Speaker and would do so only in the presence of West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari.
“Most of the MPs and MLAs wanted this to be a successful initiative. They wanted the party to continue under the guidance of Mamata Banerjee, with her playing a role similar to that of a chief advisor and party leader. Their appeal genuinely touched me,” he said.
TMC REJIGS PARTY STRUCTURE
As the crisis escalated, the TMC carried out a fresh organisational reshuffle, removing Ghosh, Roy and Bandyopadhyay from key party positions.
Arnab Banerjee was appointed president of the Trinamool Youth Congress, replacing Ghosh, while Kaliganj MLA Alifa Ahmed replaced Roy as head of the party’s women’s wing.
In another significant change, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh was named president of the party’s North Kolkata organisational district, replacing Bandyopadhyay.
The party also named MP Saugata Roy as chief adviser to its Lok Sabha wing, which now comprises MPs still loyal to Banerjee.
MAMATA FACTION SLAMS REBELS
The Mamata-led faction has maintained that the anti-defection law does not permit the formation of a separate group within Parliament.
Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said there was “no legal provision” for a separate group and argued that MPs could face disqualification unless their original party merges with another under the Tenth Schedule.
“The crucial condition is that the original party has to merge with another party. There is no legal provision for a ‘separate group’ inside Parliament or an assembly while holding a seat won on the original party’s symbol,” she said in a post on X on Sunday.
“The law is clear. No separate group inside the House on the same symbol is legal. Either merge with a new party or face disqualification,” she added.
– Ends
Published By:
Aprameya Rao
Published On:
Jun 14, 2026 19:37 IST
