Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has yet to decide on the status of the Trinamool Congress in Parliament. Party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was unable to meet the Speaker on Monday because he was being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate until late in the day. TMC MP Kirti Azad met Birla instead and explained Banerjee’s absence.
The situation follows a split in the party. A group of TMC MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar told the Speaker they had joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, based in Tripura, and wanted to operate as a separate group in the Lok Sabha.
Banerjee had previously written to Birla opposing any recognition or facilities for what he called a supposed separate faction of the Trinamool Congress.
TMC sources said the Speaker’s office had accepted Banerjee’s request for a meeting on Monday afternoon. Banerjee was at the ED office in Kolkata at the time and could not attend. Azad later wrote to Birla confirming that Banerjee was cooperating with the investigation and had no access to email during questioning.
Azad met Birla around 3:30 pm to present the party’s position. Banerjee returned from the ED office near 11 pm and was briefed on the meeting.
The key issue is whether the rebel MPs’ claim of a merger shields them from disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The rebels argue that more than two-thirds of the party’s 28 MPs have joined another party. The Mamata Banerjee faction maintains that the anti-defection rules require a broader test to confirm a valid merger of the original party.
