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TMC rebel leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay meets PM Modi after Lok Sabha Speaker's nod
TMC rebel leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay met PM Narendra Modi after the Lok Sabha Speaker approved separate seating for the breakaway group's 20 MPs.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) breakaway faction leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla approved a separate seating arrangement for the breakaway group of 20 MPs that recently split from the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The meeting came ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, scheduled to begin on July 20. The event marked another significant development in the political realignment following the split within the TMC.
The breakaway faction has also expressed interest in joining the Narendra Modi-led government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Also read: Om Birla gives nod to merger of Uddhav rebels with Shinde Sena, TMC rebels with NCPI
Speaker grants separate seating to rebel MPs
Bandyopadhyay, a senior Lok Sabha MP, met the Prime Minister after the Speaker approved the request of the rebel MPs to sit separately from the parent party in the Lok Sabha. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also invited Bandyopadhyay to attend Sunday's all-party meeting convened ahead of the Monsoon Session, news agency PTI reported.
Days earlier, 20 Lok Sabha MPs broke away from the Trinamool Congress following the party's defeat in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections.
The rebel lawmakers subsequently joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a registered but unrecognised political party headquartered in Howrah, West Bengal, and sought recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
While the Speaker has approved their request for separate seating in the House, a final decision on recognising their merger with the NCPI is yet to be taken.
Officials said the matter remains under consideration.
Recognition plea still pending
The breakaway group has requested the Lok Sabha Speaker to formally recognise its merger with the NCPI, which would determine its official parliamentary status. However, the request has not yet been decided.
Earlier this week, on July 14, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and fellow MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar met Speaker Om Birla to communicate the organisational structure of the new parliamentary group. Bandyopadhyay was proposed as the floor leader, while Ghosh Dastidar was named the chief whip, PTI reported.
Saturday's decision to allot separate seating marks the first formal parliamentary recognition of the split, although it falls short of granting the group official recognition under the NCPI banner.
Also read: 'Still in the dark': Confusion shrouds TMC rebels' merger with NCPI
Rebel faction backs NDA
The developments also carry political significance ahead of the Monsoon Session, which will run from July 20 to August 13.
According to officials, the rebel MPs have expressed their allegiance to the Narendra Modi government and indicated their willingness to become part of the NDA. Their participation in Sunday's all-party meeting further signals their effort to establish themselves as an independent political bloc in Parliament.
The Speaker's decision on the pending recognition request is expected to determine the parliamentary identity of the rebel MPs in the coming weeks. The split adds a new dimension to West Bengal's political landscape and the evolving equations in national politics.
Also read: TMC split to boost NDA's strength in Parliament as rebel MPs wish to join BJP-led coalition
(With inputs from PTI)
