Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has called for the disqualification of rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who have announced plans to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The development comes amid a deepening crisis within the TMC, where a group of dissident Lok Sabha MPs has broken ranks with the party leadership.
Reacting sharply to the rebels’ move, Sibal described the situation as a “theatre of the absurd” and argued that individual MPs or a parliamentary faction cannot legally merge with another political party on their own. He maintained that under the anti-defection law, such a merger can only take place if the political party itself formally decides to merge through the appropriate organizational process. Sibal demanded that the rebel MPs be disqualified.
The controversy erupted after rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed that 20 TMC MPs would merge with the NCPI and extend support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The dissident group has also sought separate recognition in Parliament, intensifying the battle for control over the party’s parliamentary identity.
Meanwhile, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him not to recognize any splinter group as a separate entity. In his letter, Banerjee asserted that the All India Trinamool Congress remains a single and undivided political party and that rebel MPs cannot claim a separate identity while continuing to rely on the party’s electoral mandate.
The unfolding dispute is expected to trigger a major legal and constitutional battle over the interpretation of the anti-defection law, the validity of the proposed merger, and the future status of the rebel MPs in Parliament. The Speaker’s decision on the matter could have significant implications for both the TMC and the broader political landscape.
