Speaker Om Birla to hear both sides before deciding on rebel MPs

In the wake of the breakaway faction of TMC MPs seeking to be recognised as a separate bloc in Lok Sabha by claiming to merge with a little known West Bengal-based party, Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has made it clear that he will hear both the sides – the group of 20 dissidents and those with party chief Mamata Banerjee and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee – before taking a decision on the issue.

Birla had called Abhishek Banerjee on Monday to hear his side, but the latter could not meet him as he was being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till late evening in connection with the school job scam probe. Instead, TMC MP Kirti Azad, who is aligned with Mamata, met Birla and conveyed to him about Abhishek’s inability to attend the meeting.

Abhishek had earlier written to Birla opposing any recognition, status or facilities being granted to the breakaway TMC faction, which he described as a “purported separate group or faction” of the All India Trinamool Congress.

According to TMC sources, the Speaker’s office on Monday afternoon, around 2 pm, informed Abhishek through an email that his request for a meeting had been accepted and asked him to meet Birla at 4 pm.

Soon after, the Speaker’s office called party MP Kirti Azad and told him about the email.

Azad then wrote to Birla, informing him that the Diamond Harbour MP was currently being questioned by the ED in Kolkata. “Abhishek Banerjee, who is committed to cooperating with all investigation agencies, is presently cooperating with the investigation at the ED office at the CGO complex, Kolkata,” Azad wrote to the Speaker.

He told Birla that Abhishek did not have access to his email account during questioning by the ED. “When the interrogation concludes for the day, we undertake to inform him of the email he has received from you,” he wrote.

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Sources in the TMC said Azad later met Birla around 3.30 pm and conveyed the party’s position. Abhishek returned from the ED office around 11 pm, after which party leaders briefed him on the developments.

Meanwhile, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who is leading the rebel TMC MPs on Tuesday, claimed that the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) has agreed to accept the joining of all the dissident MPs. She also said that NCPI has named Jyotiprakash Chatterji as its new president.

“Acceptance has already come to us. They (NCPI) are happy to take us. We will work together with the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah… Currently, we are 20 (MPs). The numbers may go up to 22,” the Barasat MP told mediapersons at the Parliament House complex.

On relations with the rebel TMC MLAs in West Bengal, Dastidar said the dissident MPs have no connection with the state legislators. “They are a separate group; their issues and agenda are different.”

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The Mamata Banerjee-led group, however, dismissed the breakaway group as a “gaddar team” and asserted that the TMC remained under the former CM. “There are two teams — the TMC team and the gaddar team. The TMC team is led by Mamata Banerjee. The Gaddar team is led by Narendra Modi. The symbol of the TMC team is the much-loved twin flowers (jora phool). Symbol of gaddar team is the nib of a senior TMC leader and MP Saugata Roy said.

Azad said, “The real TMC is led by Didi, and everyone knows that Didi is Mamata Banerjee. The other group is a party of traitors.”

Meanwhile, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, the senior-most face in the rebel group, said the first phase of the “merger process” with the NCPI was completed on Sunday, and if they are called again for a second round, then further discussions will take place.

He said the next steps will be taken before the Monsoon session of the Parliament, which normally begins in the third week of July.

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“Discussions are taking place on how both sides will sit together, come closer, and determine the future course of action for the group. The Trinamool Congress has its own symbols, assets, and other organisational matters. Decisions will have to be made regarding all these issues. Experience suggests that many of these matters will ultimately be settled in court,” Bandyopadhyay said.

He said the Speaker’s responsibilities include recognising and constituting the parliamentary bloc and allocating party office space, and these tasks are expected to be completed expeditiously.

With PTI Inputs