The crisis in the Trinamool Congress further worsened as a group of rebel MPs claiming the support of 19 Lok Sabha members on Friday said that they would meet Speaker Om Birla next week to seek recognition as the "real TMC" parliamentary group, a move that the Mamata Banerjee-led party dismissed as legally untenable under the anti-defection law.
Rebel MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia said the dissident camp has already submitted a representation to the Speaker and will formally stake its claim on Monday. "We have submitted the letter...On Monday, we will go to the Speaker and stake our claim to form the real TMC parliamentary group. We will ask the Speaker to give recognition to our claim," Basunia told PTI Videos.
He said the process to collect signatures began on June 8 and that 19 MPs had signed the representation so far. Sources said the timing of the meeting has not been finalised yet.
Rebel MPsannouncement draws sharp response from TMC
The announcement drew a sharp response from the TMC, which maintained that the dissidents' claim had no legal basis. Party MP Mahua Moitra said the Constitution's 91st Amendment had removed provisions for a split and that lawmakers seeking to leave a party would have to merge with another political party.
"Traitor TMC lawmakers don't know the law. Constitution 91st Amendment 2003 removed the provision for a split/separate bloc. The number of MPs is irrelevant -- 2/3 of the original political party has to merge with another party. All 19 traitors need to resign and contest on BJP ticket," she said in a post on X.
The latest flashpoint comes amid the TMC's worst organisational crisis in recent years, with a rebellion that began in West Bengal after the party's assembly election defeat now spilling over into Parliament.
Rebel list carries names and signatures of 19 TMC Lok Sabha MPs
Amid the churn within the party, a purported list carrying the names and signatures of 19 TMC Lok Sabha MPs was circulated online, though the purported letter to Birla was not in the public domain.
Dissident TMC leaders claimed that the document, which could not be independently verified, reflected support for their move. The list reportedly carries the signatures of Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Bandyopadhyay, Jagadish Barma Basunia, Asit Kumar Mal, Arup Chakraborty, Rachna Banerjee, Saayoni Ghosh, Khalilur Rahaman, Abu Taher Khan, Yusuf Pathan, Mitali Bag, Mala Roy, Kalipada Soren, Deepak Adhikari, June Malia, and Partha Bhowmick.
Kirti Azad says BJP attempts to engineer defections through ‘Operation Lotus’
TMC MP Kirti Azad, however, alleged that the BJP was attempting to engineer defections through "Operation Lotus" and claimed that efforts to split the party had not succeeded. "Operation Lotus, under the guidance of Amit Shah, is underway," Azad said in a post on X on Friday, claiming that it had "failed so far".
Citing Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Chik Baraik's appearance outside BJP leader Nishikant Dubey's residence, a meeting of dissident MPs at Union minister Bhupender Yadav's residence, and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's visit to TMC MP Satabdi Roy's residence, Azad alleged that there was an organised attempt to weaken the party.
On Thursday, Baraik became the third TMC parliamentarian to resign from both the party and the Upper House this week, after Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Sushmita Dev. The crisis also exposed internal fault lines in the party. Senior TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee on Thursday launched a sharp attack on party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and declared that he would remain in the party only if Abhishek is removed from all leadership positions.
Seeking to downplay internal differences within the TMC, Azad defended Kalyan Banerjee. "Everything is okay, there's no problem. Kalyan Banerjee is emotional. He has been with Didi through bad times; he can never betray her or stab her in the back," Azad told PTI Videos.
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