New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): The internal conflict within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has intensified as party leader in the Lok Sabha Abhishek Banerjee urged Speaker Om Birla not to recognise any breakaway group of party MPs claiming to represent a separate faction.
The development comes ahead of a planned meeting between rebel TMC MPs and the Speaker, where the dissident group is expected to seek recognition as an independent parliamentary bloc.
In his letter to the Speaker, Abhishek Banerjee requested that the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) be treated as a single political entity represented in Parliament only through its authorised leader and whip. He also urged that no separate status, recognition or facilities be extended to any group claiming to be a distinct faction of the party.
The letter, dated June 10, was submitted on Sunday to the Speaker’s office by TMC MPs Sagarika Ghose and Kirti Azad.
Banerjee further requested that the party be given an opportunity to present its position before any decision is taken on representations submitted by the dissident MPs.
He said, “Treat the AITC as a single political party represented in the House solely through its duly authorised Leader and Whip, and decline to accord any recognition, status, or facility to any purported separate group or faction of the AITC.”
The TMC leader also emphasised that any claim of merger or split must meet the legal requirements under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, including support from at least two-thirds of legislators, and that partial compliance would not be valid under law.
He further stated that the party reserves its right to initiate proceedings under the anti-defection law against any members violating party discipline.
Meanwhile, rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said in Kolkata that the dissident camp currently has the support of 22 Lok Sabha MPs and that more lawmakers are expected to join. The group plans to meet the Speaker to seek formal recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc.
“We are meeting the Speaker tomorrow and will seek recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc,” she said before leaving for New Delhi.
The political crisis within the TMC has widened both in Parliament and in West Bengal, where a parallel split has already taken shape in the state Assembly.
Last week, a majority of the party’s MLAs reportedly broke away and secured recognition as a separate legislative group, a decision that has been challenged by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction in the Calcutta High Court.
