New Delhi | Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will hear the defected TMC MPs as also the faction led by Mamata Banerjee before deciding on giving recognition to the breakaway faction even as the NCPI, the party which the rebel faction will join, has named Jyotiprakash Chatterji as its new president.
One of the leading faces of the TMC rebel faction, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, on Tuesday claimed that the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) has agreed to accept the joining of all the dissident Lok Sabha members of her party, whose numbers are likely to go up to 22 from the present 20.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will hear the defected TMC MPs as well as the faction led by Mamata Banerjee before deciding on giving recognition to the breakaway faction, sources privy to the development said.
If the Speaker accepts the TMC rebels' plea, the NCPI will become the second largest constituent of the NDA in Lok Sabha ahead of the TDP which has 16 MPs and the JD(U) which has 12. The BJP on its own has 239 members excluding the Speaker.
Meanwhile, sources in the Mamata-led TMC said its leader Abhishek Banerjee was called for a meeting with Birla at a two-hour notice when he was still being questioned by the ED in connection with its probe into the alleged primary school recruitment scam.
Banerjee got an email from the Speaker's office around 2 pm on Monday, asking him to meet Birla at 4 pm. Soon after, the Speaker's office called party MP Kirti Azad and told him about the email.
Azad, in response, informed the Speaker's office that Banerjee was "committed to cooperating with all investigative agencies" and was cooperating with the probe at the ED office in Kolkata, sources said.
Later in the day, Azad also met the speaker to inform him about the email.
The sources added that Banerjee returned after questioning only around midnight.
In a fast-paced development, the NCPI, which has been thrust into the spotlight after the TMC rebel Lok Sabha faction's announcement of merger with it, named Chatterji as its new president, according to Dastidar.
Dastidar's statement came a day after NCPI founder Shewli Kundu said she had stepped down as the NCPI chief, triggering speculation that Dastidar herself had taken charge of the party.
Responding to a query from PTI on Tuesday, Dastidar said Chatterji is the new president of NCPI.
However, little is known about Chatterji, much like the party itself.
Shantanu Dey, who calls himself the NCPI's national organisation general secretary, told PTI that he had no information about the new president.
"I don't know who Jyotiprakash Chatterji is. I have no idea what's happening with the NCPI, a party for which I worked so hard. I am glad that big leaders are joining us, but we have not been contacted by them so far. I am disheartened by the fact that we are being kept in the dark," Dey, whose name also finds mention as the NCPI's general secretary in the party's old campaign posters, said.
The NCPI registered as a political party in January 2023, with its address listed in Election Commission records as a building in Sankarail, in West Bengal's Howrah district.
Asked about the next move of the rebel TMC MPs, Dastidar said first they want to settle down while trying to merge into another party.
"Acceptance has already come to us. They (NCPI) are happy to take us. We will work together with the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah," the lawmaker from Bengal's Barasat told reporters at the Parliament House complex.
Asked about her faction's strength, Dastidar said, "Currently we are 20 (MPs). The numbers may go up to 22."
Altogether, 28 MPs got elected to Lok Sabha on TMC tickets in the 2024 general elections.
On relations with the rebel TMC MLAs in Bengal, she said the dissident MPs have no connection with the state legislators. "We have no connection with them. They are a separate group; their issues and agenda are different."
The Mamata Banerjee-led faction, however, dismissed the breakaway group as a "gaddar team" and asserted that the TMC remained under the former CM.
"There are two teams -- the TMC team and the gaddar team. The TMC team is led by Mamata Banerjee. Gaddar team is led by Narendra Modi. The symbol of TMC team is the much loved twin flowers (jora phool). Symbol of gaddar team is the nib of a senior TMC leader and MP Saugata Roy said.
Azad said: "The real TMC is led by Didi, and everyone knows that Didi is Mamata Banerjee. The other group is a party of traitors."
Meanwhile, rebel MP Rachna Banerjee, who met Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh on Tuesday and signed the document for the merger, denied that the dissident lawmakers were acting against Mamata Banerjee personally, while defending their decision to align with the NDA.
"There can never be any rebellion against her. We have shared a very old relationship with Didi, and that relationship will always remain the same," she said.
Sudip Bandyopadhyay, the senior most face in the rebel group, said the first phase of the merger process was completed on Sunday and if they are called again for a second round, then further discussions will take place.
He said the next steps will be taken before the Monsoon session of the Parliament, which normally begins in third week of July.
"Discussions are taking place on how both sides will sit together, come closer, and determine the future course of action for the group. The Trinamool Congress has its own symbols, assets, and other organisational matters. Decisions will have to be made regarding all these issues. Experience suggests that many of these matters will ultimately be settled in court," Bandyopadhyay said.
He said the Speaker's responsibilities include recognising and constituting the parliamentary bloc and allocating party office space and these tasks are expected to be completed expeditiously.
Former Lok Sabha secretary general and constitutional expert P D T Achary cited paragraph 4 of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution to underline that only a political party is allowed to merge with another party and just MPs or MLAs cannot merge.
Paragraph 4 of the 10th Schedule deals with the exception to disqualification in case of a merger.
It says that a member of a House will not be disqualified if the original political party to which they belong merges with another political party and not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned agree to such a merger.
Achary told PTI that if the leadership of a political party decides to merge with another political party, its MLAs and MPs have to agree on the merger, "but the MPs or the MLAs alone cannot merge with another political party. This is the constitutional provision".
An Election Commission official said the NCPI will have to "report" the new developments to the poll authority in due course and there was "no tearing hurry" in informing the poll body.
A former EC official, who dealt with political parties in the poll panel, termed the plan of the TMC rebels to merge with the NCPI an "innovation" that has no mention in either the anti-defection law or the Representation of the People Act.
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has already written to Birla, disputing the merger proposal of the rebel MPs.
Kolkata | The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday questioned the procedure to be followed by the Assembly Speaker when two conflicting proposals are received from the same political party for the appointment of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the House, hearing the first-ever such dispute in West Bengal Assembly.
Hearing a petition filed by TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay challenging the rejection of his name and the appointment of another party MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, Justice Krishna Rao said the Speaker is required to act after receiving a resolution from the largest opposition party, but must also address disputes arising from such proposals in accordance with law.
The judge asked what the Speaker’s duty would be if two different proposals are received from the same political party and whether he can take a decision "suo motu" or must give both sides an opportunity to be heard.
Speaker’s counsel Billwadal Bhattacharya submitted that under the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Emoluments Act, 1937, the Leader of Opposition is the member recognised as the leader of the party with the greatest numerical strength in the House.
He further argued that in case of any dispute regarding the party’s numerical strength or its leader, the Speaker’s decision is "final and conclusive".
He also said this was the first time in the history of the West Bengal Assembly that the LoP appointment had become contentious.
The hearing will continue on Wednesday, the court said.
The counsel informed the court that two MLAs -- Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha -- had reportedly informed the Speaker that their signatures on the resolution were not theirs.
The court also questioned whether the Speaker could ignore the proposal of the largest opposition party and appoint another person as Leader of Opposition without hearing the concerned parties.
Justice Rao noted that while the TMC had sent a resolution seeking the appointment of Chattopadhyay, the Speaker had not acted on it immediately.
He also observed that the complaint regarding signatures was made on May 27, but the resolution seeking appointment of Chattopadhyay, the TMC MLA from Ballygunge in south Kolkata, was sent to the Speaker earlier.
In the 294-member Assembly, BJP won 207 seats, while the TMC bagged 80 and the rest by others.
Justice Rao further asked who proposed Ritabrata Banerjee's name for the LoP, maintaining that there has to be a political party which should make the proposal.
Justice Rao further asked whether the Speaker can ignore the proposal of the opposition party with majority strength and appoint another person as LoP without hearing the matter.
Bhattacharya, the additional advocate general of the state, submitted before the court that what will have to be examined is whether the recommendation for appointing Chattopadhyay as LoP can be considered valid.
He said the resolution was claimed to have been adopted on May 9 by the TMC, following which the Speaker’s office sought the minutes of the meeting.
On May 20, another communication was received from the party, purportedly enclosing a copy of the resolution with the minutes and signature register of the Trinamool Congress.
Speaker’s counsel Billwadal Bhattacharya told the court that following a complaint on May 27 by Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha alleging that their signatures on the resolution sent to the Speaker were forged, the matter was handed over to the CID for investigation.
Bhattacharya further said the Speaker received a document containing the signatures of 58 TMC MLAs who proposed Banerjee as the LoP and Saha as the chief whip.
Justice Rao asked how the Speaker can decide without convening the House and asking the rival factions to prove their majority.
