Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar Says 20 TMC MPs to Merge with Nationalist Citizens Party

In a significant political development, rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs have announced their decision to break away from the party and merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party (NCP), while expressing support for the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking after a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in New Delhi, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that twenty MPs elected on the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) ticket had jointly submitted a letter requesting separate seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha.

According to Dastidar, the group of twenty MPs constitutes more than two-thirds of the party's parliamentary strength, a factor that could have significant implications under parliamentary and anti-defection provisions.

"We, the twenty MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately. These twenty MPs constitute more than two-thirds of our total strength. We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party. Moving forward, we will work for the nation and collaborate with the NDA under the leadership of the Prime Minister," she stated.

The announcement marks a major setback for the Trinamool Congress and could potentially reshape political equations both in Parliament and in West Bengal. The move is expected to trigger intense political reactions from various parties, with attention now focused on the Speaker's response and the formal recognition process of the new parliamentary grouping.