Mamata vs rebels: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Bira to hear both sides before taking call

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will hear both sides in the Trinamool Congress split before deciding on a request by rebel MPs to merge their faction with the Nationalist Citizens Party (NCPI), ANI reported citing sources said. 20 Lok Sabha MPs elected on the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) ticket had met Speaker Om Birla on Sunday and submitted a letter seeking recognition as a separate group. They expressed their intent to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party and support the ruling NDA. Rebel MP, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, suggested that the faction would eventually seek legal recognition over the Trinamool Congress name. He argued that since the group represented more than two-thirds of the party's parliamentary strength, it would pursue its claim through legal channels at a later stage. The move was strongly opposed by the TMC leadership. In a letter to the Speaker, Abhishek Banerjee urged him not to recognise any separate faction, asserting that the TMC remained a single and indivisible political party. He argued that no group of MPs could independently carve out a parallel faction within the party and seek separate recognition in Parliament. If eventually approved by the Speaker, the merger could significantly alter the political landscape in the Lok Sabha, reducing the TMC's strength in the House and boosting the NDA's numbers.