• Source:JND

The Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is facing a massive rebellion among its MPs and MLAs following its defeat in the West Bengal assembly election. In the latest setback, the rebel bloc led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has confirmed that it will merge with the Nationalist Citizens' Party.

The 20-strong rebel faction plans to merge with the Nationalist Citizens' Party, a lesser-known, Bengali-oriented political party based in Tripura.

Ghosh Dastidar, who is leading the rebel faction, stated that they will sit separately in Parliament and "work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Meanwhile, rebel TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay added, "We have joined the Nationalist Citizens' Party. This is a recognized regional political party, and we have merged with it... It will ultimately be decided in court which faction is the real TMC."

"We will merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party... It is a regional party. This is the system. When you leave with 2/3rd of the party, you cannot demand the name of that party on the first day itself... In July, we will make a demand to give us Trinamool since we have 2/3rd majority from Trinamool. Then the court will decide..." 

On TMC MP Kirti Azad and TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha, he says, "The people of Bihar support the party from Bengal more."

ALSO READ: 'TMC Is Single Party': Abhishek Banerjee Writes To Lok Sabha Speaker Before Rebel Group's Meeting With Om Birla

After meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Kakoli said, "We, the twenty MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately; these twenty MPs constitute more than two-thirds of our total strength. We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party. Moving forward, we will work for the nation and collaborate with the NDA under the leadership of the Prime Minister."

She added, "We requested separate seating arrangements. we've said that we are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party."

ALSO READ: Mamata's Two More Lok Sabha MPs Slip Away? TMC Rebel Kakoli Ghosh Says Support Grows To 22 Ahead Of Meeting With Speaker


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