TMC Crisis Highlights: Kakoli Ghosh files complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker seeking Kalyan Banerjee's expulsion

Rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who along with 19 other MPs joined Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) yesterday, gives a complaint to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, "seeking expulsion of Kalyan Banerjee, Member of Parliament, for repeated verbal abuse, misogynistic comments, and misconduct within the precincts of the Lok Sabha."

Twenty rebel Lok Sabha MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced on Sunday that they will merge with the registered but unrecognised Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). Is the merger valid? Constitutional expert explains to Mint.

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Arup Chakraborty on Monday said the breakaway faction is trying to "rectify" the party, and would fight for the control of its election symbol, even as the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit termed the move illegal under the anti-defection law.

"We have not left TMC; we're in TMC and trying to rectify the party. Why did it get damaged, that is not being discussed. We will fight for the party symbol; we have 20 members, why should we not fight for the symbol," Chakraborty told PTI Videos.

NCPI Organisational General Secy Shantanu Dey said, "We welcome rebel MPs' decision to merge with our party, but we will finalise after our members' meeting. Talks will be held with TMC.

A court in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Sumit Roy, a close associate of TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with an alleged land scam, PTI reported. The court took the step after investigators told it that repeated efforts to trace Roy had been unsuccessful.

Roy approached the Calcutta High Court on Monday, seeking anticipatory bail. His counsel mentioned the matter before the bench of Justice Joy Sengupta, and the plea is likely to come up for hearing later this week.

Police have been looking for Roy in connection with a case registered at the Salboni police station.

Defending the rebel MPs' decision, Chakraborty questioned the leadership's response to the situation and argued that the party should not be treated as the property of a single individual or family. He said, “Was it Didi standing for election, or was it us? Whom did the public vote for? Mamata Banerjee wasn't standing in the elections everywhere. There is no such thing as 'our party'... A party doesn't belong to just one person or household. It belongs to everyone. Why didn't everyone run the party together? Who else is answerable for this? Why are they afraid to call a party meeting?”

Former West Bengal minister Rathin Ghosh and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA left the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Kolkata on Monday after participating in the agency's probe into the alleged municipality recruitment scam.

Ghosh appeared before ED officials as part of the ongoing investigation into the case. He departed from the agency's office after the questioning session.

The Enforcement Directorate is probing alleged irregularities in municipal recruitments in West Bengal. Further details are awaited.

Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a Tripura-based unrecognised party, has been thrust into the national spotlight after 20 rebel TMC MPs announced a merger with the outfit. Ironically, the NCPI had contested the 2023 Tripura assembly elections with the slogan "reject political turncoats to save your rights". The party fielded four candidates who ended up losing their deposits.

Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Kolkata on Monday in connection with the alleged school jobs scam case, an official said.

This came a day after he was questioned by the West Bengal CID in the alleged forgery of TMC MLAs' signatures on documents related to the appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.

Speaking about the TMC's internal rebellion in West Bengal, Abhijit Majumdar, the former chief of the party’s state unit in Assam, has claimed that leaders there had also faced a similar situation.

“We saw what happened with the TMC in Assam; we were shown absolutely no respect there. The situation here is even worse; MPs and MLAs simply cannot get a meeting with 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee)...She doesn't respect or listen to anyone...That is why 20 MPs left...The TMC has completely fractured and collapsed,” Majumdar told ANI.

After announcing their merger with Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), 20 rebel TMC MPs have created a separate bloc in the Lower House. They have claimed that they are the "real TMC" and have demanded a separate seating arrangement for themselves in the Lok Sabha after meeting Speaker Om Birla.