Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday submitted 20 separate disqualification petitions to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against the party's rebel MPs, intensifying the political battle over the split within the party. The petitions were filed shortly before Abhishek Banerjee met the Speaker in Parliament to present the official position of the Trinamool Congress. The meeting was granted after Banerjee, who serves as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, urged the Speaker to hear the TMC's arguments before taking any decision on the status of the rebel MPs.
“I as the leader of Lok Sabha of Trinamool Congress have submitted 20 disqualification petitions to the Speaker of the house today. If any of the rebel MPs wish to leave the party as they stated in the media, or call upon a merger with another party just in the Lok Sabha, both are grounds enough to disqualify you as a member of the house,” said Abhishek Banerjee after his meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The development comes days after 20 TMC MPs, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, approached the Speaker seeking recognition of their merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The rebel MPs have also sought recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
"Twenty MPs of the TMC met the Speaker three or four days ago and claimed to have formed a separate group. Subsequently, some of them claimed to have merged with a party called the NCPI, which none of us had even heard of. As the Leader of the Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha, I have submitted 20 separate disqualification petitions against them," Abhishek Banerjee said, arguing that the rebels' actions violate the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution. He maintained that the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution leaves little room for interpretation in the matter. "The Tenth Schedule is against them. If they have even a little integrity, they should resign from their posts," he said.
Banerjee further contended that individual MPs cannot independently merge with another political party while retaining their parliamentary positions. "MPs alone cannot merge with another party. Such actions attract disqualification under the law," he said, expressing confidence that the Speaker would act in accordance with constitutional provisions. "We hope the Speaker gives us justice."
In his submissions before the Speaker, the Diamond Harbour also urged that no separate faction or bloc within the Trinamool Congress be recognised, asserting that the party remains a single and indivisible political organisation.
In addition, Abhishek Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the BJP, alleging that opposition parties were being systematically weakened through political pressure and the use of investigative agencies. "The MPs were either intimidated, threatened or bought with money…If any MP finds my statement offensive, they are free to take me to court. I will prove my point in a court of law," he said.
Accusing the rebels of betraying their mandate, Banerjee alleged that intimidation and financial inducements had played a role in the split. "By threatening people, intimidating them and luring them with crores of rupees, they are betraying the expectations with which the public elected them," he said. Referring to recent political developments in West Bengal and elsewhere, he claimed that attempts were being made to engineer defections rather than seek public support through elections. "They know that if people vote in a truly democratic manner, the BJP can never win. That is why institutions and agencies are being used to manipulate the people's mandate," Banerjee alleged.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat had earlier written to Abhishek Banerjee after he formally appealed against the recognition of any faction claiming to represent the All India Trinamool Congress. In his communication, he argued that neither the Constitution nor the anti-defection law permits the formation of a separate group within an existing political party. While the rebel MPs have already presented their case, Birla decided to hear the Trinamool leadership before arriving at a final conclusion.
