A 20-member [1] rebel faction of Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MPs announced they will merge with the Nationalist Citizens' Party (NCPI).
The move signals a significant fracture within the TMC, as a substantial group of lawmakers chooses to align with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition.
Led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the group met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in New Delhi to submit a formal merger letter. The NCPI is a party based in Tripura [1, 2]. The rebel MPs said they intend to sit separately in Parliament and operate under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi [1].
"We will sit separately in Parliament and work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Dastidar said [1].
The announcement occurred on June 14, 2024 [2]. The faction cited internal rifts within the TMC as the primary driver for the decision to move toward the NDA [1, 2].
TMC leadership has pushed back against the move. Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC National General Secretary, said the Trinamool Congress is a single, indivisible political party [2]. This statement suggests the party leadership does not recognize the legitimacy of the split or the merger.
Despite the internal opposition, the 20 [1] lawmakers are proceeding with the transition to the Tripura-based party to facilitate their cooperation with the Modi administration [1, 2].
“"We will sit separately in Parliament and work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."”
This merger represents a strategic shift in the Indian parliamentary landscape by weakening the TMC's voting bloc while strengthening the NDA's influence. By merging with a smaller, regional party like the NCPI, the rebel MPs attempt to bypass anti-defection laws that typically penalize lawmakers who leave their party without a formal merger. The conflict between the rebel faction and the TMC leadership highlights deep-seated internal instability within the party.
