Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has granted rebel Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay an extension until September 22 to respond to a disqualification petition filed against him under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The extension follows Bandyopadhyay’s request for three more weeks to submit his response to the petition filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on June 18.
A Lok Sabha Secretariat letter said, “Hon'ble Speaker has acceded to your request for extension of time up to September 22 to file your reply to the petition.”
The petition seeks Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s disqualification under the anti-defection law after he joined the breakaway faction of TMC MPs that subsequently announced a merger with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The dispute centres on 20 rebel TMC MPs who broke ranks with the party in June. The faction claims to represent more than two-thirds of TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs, a position it has cited in seeking protection under the anti-defection provisions. The Speaker has allowed the 20 MPs separate seating in the Lok Sabha but has not yet recognised or ratified their claimed merger.
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee had earlier met Om Birla and urged him to expedite the disqualification proceedings against the rebel MPs. He also sought changes to the seating arrangements for the eight TMC MPs who remain with the party.
The matter has also reached the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker and the Lok Sabha Secretary General, told the court that notices had already been issued to all 20 MPs on the disqualification petitions filed by the TMC.
