Political Earthquake in Bengal: 20 TMC MPs Move to Support BJP-Led NDA

Led by veteran Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, at least 20 dissident Trinamool Congress MPs reportedly submitted a formal letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday in order to break away from the party and support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The group of 20 rebel MPs gathered in New Delhi and are engagement in deliberations with the BJP for a political alignment, either through extending support or formally joining the ruling party.

In their letter, the rebel MPs have reportedl stated that they no longer recognize Abhishek Banerjee as their parliamentary leader and intend to operate as a distinct legislative bloc aligned with the NDA.

The rebelious MPs have moved to the house of Union minister Bhupendra Yadav for further discussions on relignment even as TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee attended an opposition INDIA bloc strategy meeting in New Delhi on Monday.

It is a latest setback for TMC, whose 58 of 80 MLAs broke away from party lines after their defeat in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections.

It triggered a huge structural collapse across the party as part of which senior Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned from both his parliamentary seat and TMC's primary membership.

TMC had 41 MPs (28 in Lok Sabha, 13 in Rajya Sabha) in the the two houses of Parliament before the split.