Rebel Trinamool MPs Merge with NCPI, Claim Two-Thirds Majority

After days of speculation, 20 rebel Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs met Speaker Om Birla at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday and submitted a letter announcing their decision to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

The move is aimed at avoiding legal complications under the anti-defection law, which allows a merger of two-thirds of a party's legislators without disqualification. The rebels claim they constitute a two-thirds majority of Trinamool's 28 Lok Sabha MPs, which would enable them to eventually seek recognition as the Trinamool Congress itself.

"We are more than two-thirds of MPs and will merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. We will work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA for the interest of the country," said Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar after the meeting. The Speaker's office confirmed that 19 MPs attended, though the rebels claim support of 20, including Sudip Bandyopadhyay who joined on Saturday.

Bandyopadhyay explained that the merger is a procedural step. "In July, when the Parliament session begins, we will seek recognition as the Trinamool Congress since we have a two-thirds majority. Then the courts will decide," he said.

The NCPI is a registered regional party that was registered with the Election Commission on February 2, 2023, with its office in Sankrail, Howrah, West Bengal. The party was virtually unknown until this development.

The rebellion follows the Trinamool Congress's defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The rebel MPs had previously held meetings at the residence of Union Minister and BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav. On Sunday, they gathered at Yadav's residence before meeting the Speaker.

Meanwhile, two loyalist MPs met the Speaker separately and submitted a letter from Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee, urging him to treat the party as a single entity and not recognise any faction. The letter requested that the Speaker decline to accord any recognition to a separate group and give the party a hearing before any decision.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool won 29 seats; one MP, Haji Sheikh Nurul Islam, died in September 2024, reducing the party's strength to 28. The loyalist group includes Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee, Saugata Roy, Mahua Maitra, Kirti Azad, Shatrughan Sinha, Pratima Mondal and Sajda Ahmed — eight MPs in total.

Earlier, about 60 of the 80 Trinamool MLAs had also broken ranks with the party leadership, supporting expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee.