Is Bengal politics on the verge of entering a new chapter? The answer may now be only a matter of time. A National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meeting titled “Mangal Milan” began in Delhi on Tuesday. Rebel All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs, who are currently associated with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), were also invited to attend.
The meeting was held at 9:30 am at the GMC Balayogi Auditorium in Parliament’s Library Building. This was the first time that leaders who had broken away from TMC and joined NCPI attended an NDA parliamentary party meeting.
The “Mangal Milan” programme witnessed the presence of several prominent political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other NDA leaders. The alliance extended a grand welcome to the NCPI MPs who had left TMC, formally marking their participation in the NDA parliamentary meeting.
At the meeting, Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar was seen seated in the same row as Modi, Shah and Rajnath Singh. Satabdi Roy, Rachna Banerjee, June Maliah, Saayoni Ghosh, Sharmila Sarkar and other MPs were seated in the row behind her.
However, even a week after the beginning of the Monsoon Session; the Lok Sabha Speaker has not yet recognized NCPI as a separate parliamentary group. The matter remains under consideration.
Following TMC’s severe electoral defeat, the party began to disintegrate, with the first major rebellion emerging within its parliamentary wing. Soon after the election results were announced, around 20 MPs, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Satabdi Roy, began expressing dissatisfaction with the party.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Rachna Banerjee, Satabdi Roy and others were subsequently seen holding several rounds of meetings with BJP leader Bhupender Yadav in Delhi. Initially, speculation was rife that the MPs would directly join the BJP.
20 rebel TMC MPs, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, left TMC to join NCPI and align with the NDA. They submitted an application to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking recognition for NCPI as a separate parliamentary group.
However, the Speaker has not yet granted recognition to NCPI. As a result, the rebel MPs remain officially listed as TMC members and attended Tuesday’s NDA meeting under that designation.
Speculation continues over whether the rebel MPs’ NCPI will merge with the BJP or remain an independent NDA ally after parliamentary recognition.
