- Rebel group of 20 Trinamool MPs plans to join NDA, says Shatabdi Roy
- Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar leads the rebel MPs, declared their Chief Whip
- Rebels will submit list of their names to Lok Sabha Speaker today
As the Trinamool Congress reels under an all-out revolt within its Parliament members, one of the "rebel" MPs Shatabdi Roy has told NDTV that the list of 20 Trinamool MPs seeking to ditch the party and align with the ruling NDA will be sent to Lok Sabha Speaker today.
At least 20 of the 28 Trinamool members in the Lok Sabha have formed a group under the leadership of MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar to move away from Mamata Banerjee's party.
Dastidar, a founding member of the Trinamool Congress, was upset with the party after being removed from the post of the Chief Whip. She said that going by the people's verdict, they (the rebel group) believe that their "future political course should be aligned with the NDA".
20 Trinamool MPs, including her, "have decided to write to Speaker Om Birla and formally convey our desire to be part of the NDA," Dastidar had said.
Now Shatabdi Roy has confirmed to NDTV that the list will be submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker today.
The rebel camp has declared Dastidar as their Chief Whip in the House and Roy as the deputy.
"We are forming a different bloc of 20 MPs and going to give support to the NDA. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar is our chief whip and Shatabdi Roy is our deputy leader," another Rebel Trinamool MP Sharmila Sarkar told NDTV.
Talking about the trigger for revolt, Shatabdi Roy told NDTV that it happened at the first meeting that was called by Mamata Banerjee after the Assembly election rout. The MP said that the leaders wanted to have a discussion on the reasons for election loss, but they were not allowed to speak.
"We expected it to be a meeting on election defeat. We wanted a discussion on that, but leaders were not allowed to speak. We were told to write letters instead," said Roy.
She added that her attitude showed Mamata Banerjee doesn't want to change. "The party was identified with Mamata Banerjee. When she doesn't allow any discussion, it shows that you (Mamata) are not ready to change," the MP said. "That is the day I decided to leave the party".
Rejecting the pro-Mamata camps labelling of the rebel leaders as "gaddar" (traitors), Shatabdi Roy said that when 20 of the 28 MPs are on the same page, it shows that there are problems. "It's not a case of a few MPs, who can be called traitors. 20 MPs are voicing the same concern and speaking the same language. It shows everyone has a problem," she told NDTV.
