Filed 20 Disqualification Petitions: Abhishek Banerjee After Meeting Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has received 20 separate petitions from Trinamool Congress seeking the disqualification of 20 rebel MPs who have broken away from the party and claimed affiliation with another organisation, party leader Abhishek Banerjee said after meeting the Speaker on Friday. 

The move follows a claim by the rebel MPs that they have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and should be recognised as a separate group in the House. Speaking after the meeting, Banerjee said the rebels met the Speaker earlier and presented themselves as a separate group. 

"Twenty people met the speaker and claimed they should be treated as a separate group. Later, we got to know those MPs claimed to have joined another party, NCPI; nobody has heard the name of this group. Even they had not heard the name of this party," Banerjee said.

Banerjee argued that under Section 2 of the Tenth Schedule, a member who voluntarily gives up membership of their original party loses their seat. 

"So if (they) have been elected on a symbol and (are) claiming after two years that they are joining a new party, their membership should go," he said. "We have demanded that these petitions be decided as soon as possible. The Supreme Court has also said that a decision should be made within three months."

He described other demands by the rebels such as separate seating arrangements or the appointment of a leader as secondary. Banerjee said the rebels could contest future elections on any party's ticket if they wished, but they must first face the legal consequences of leaving. He accused the rebels of undermining the Constitution.

"They have torn apart the Tenth Schedule. They have sold their conscience and their honour. The people of Bengal will not forgive them," Banerjee alleged.  "They have central security. That should go. No one will stand with them. They have left out of fear of the ED and CBI. They did this by intimidation and intimidation, by luring them with crores of rupees. There is no level playing field."

He drew a parallel with recent events in Maharashtra.

"We saw in Maharashtra how they are trying to break the Shiv Sena. They are not contesting the elections democratically. The Election Commission, CBI, and ED are all being misused," Banerjee alleged. 

The meeting on Friday came after Birla invited the Trinamool Lok Sabha leader to present his views before deciding on the rebels' demand for recognition as a separate group. On June 10, Banerjee wrote to the Speaker urging him not to grant any recognition, status or facility to any group claiming to be a separate faction of the Trinamool Congress.

In that letter, he argued that the Constitution and the anti-defection law do not permit the formation of a separate group within an existing political party. He requested that the All India Trinamool Congress be treated as a single political party represented in the House only through its duly authorised leader and whip, and that the party be given an opportunity to present its case.

Banerjee cited the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench judgment in the Maharashtra political crisis case, stating that the defence of a "split" is no longer available under the Tenth Schedule. The legal framework, he said, contemplates the identification of one political party, not the recognition of rival factions within it.

He also contended that any valid merger would require both the merger of the political party itself and the support of two-thirds of its legislators. Satisfying only one condition would not be sufficient.

Trinamool MPs Kirti Azad and Sagarika Ghose submitted the letter at the Speaker's residence. After the submission, Azad said the Supreme Court had made it clear that a split within a political party was impermissible. Ghose described the Trinamool as "indivisible" and said the Constitution does not allow a separate group within a party in the Lok Sabha.

The rebellion in the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party follows the party's defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections. The dissident camp has claimed support from 22 MPs. Rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said at Kolkata airport, before travelling to Delhi, that two more Lok Sabha members were expected to join, taking the strength to 22. 

The rebels planned to seek recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc

A parallel battle is taking place in the West Bengal Assembly. Last week, 64 of the party's 80 MLAs broke away and secured recognition as a separate legislative formation, with Ritabrata Banerjee named Leader of Opposition. That decision has been challenged by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction in the Calcutta High Court.

According to sources, the Speaker will soon decide on the matter concerning 20 Trinamool MPs, with the decision expected before the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The Speaker has already heard both sides on the petition seeking separate seating arrangements and recognition as members of NCPI.

In a related development, the Speaker has already ruled on the DMK's petition to sit separately from the INDIA bloc, and DMK MPs will be seated separately during the Monsoon Session, which is likely to be held in the third week of July. In the case of the Trinamool MPs, similar action could be taken as in the case of the 7 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who had merged with the BJP, where it was simply disclosed through the party's position on the Rajya Sabha website.