TMC Implosion : 20 Rebel MP’s Write To Lok Sabha Speaker , Seeks Separate Bloc, Back NDA , Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar Leads Them

File Picture : ANI/x

The Trinamool Congress imploded  as a rebellion that had ruptured its West Bengal assembly ranks reached Parliament, where 20 Lok Sabha MPs led by senior leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed to have written to Speaker Om Birla backing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance as a “separate bloc”, triggering a split in the party’s parliamentary ranks.

As reported by PTI, The twin revolts in the assembly and Parliament have plunged Mamata Banerjee’s outfit into its gravest crisis since its inception in 1998, with 58 of the TMC’s 80 MLAs having only days ago defied the party high command and backed expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition instead of its nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

The political turbulence spilled into Parliament even as Banerjee was in Delhi attending an INDIA bloc conclave to forge opposition unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party, underscoring the scale of the challenge confronting the TMC leadership.

The dramatic development marks the first major split in the party’s parliamentary wing since the TMC was founded and raises the prospect of a broader realignment within one of the country’s largest opposition parties.

Speaking to PTI over phone, Ghosh Dastidar said 20 MPs had decided to support the NDA.

“Nearly 20 TMC MPs, including me, have decided to support the NDA for Bengal’s development. We have decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and formally support the NDA,” said the four-term MP, who resigned from all party posts last week.

Later, speaking to a news channel, she claimed that a letter bearing the signatures of 20 MPs had already been sent to the Speaker.

“The letter has already reached the Speaker. We have sought separate seating arrangements as a separate bloc,” she said.