The day after 20 lawmakers announced their shift to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), rebel leader Arup Chakraborty declared that the splinter group remains aligned with the TMC. He asserted that their intention is to ‘correct’ the party and to be recognized as the ‘genuine’ Trinamool Congress.
“We have not exited TMC; we still belong to TMC and aim to rectify the party. The reasons for its decline aren’t being addressed. We will contend for the party symbol; we have 20 members, so why shouldn’t we fight for it?” he stated to PTI. “A new game has commenced… ‘Khela Hobe’,” Chakraborty added.
He further criticized Banerjee, claiming she is “intimidated; she can’t even convene a party meeting.” He identified Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sudip Bandyopadhyay as their faction’s leaders.
This rebel faction’s actions follow a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, where these 20 dissenting lawmakers disclosed their merger with the NCPI, an unrecognized political party based in Tripura.
“We, the 20 MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately; these twenty MPs make up more than two-thirds of our total strength. We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party,” rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar noted.
#WATCH | Delhi: After meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar says, “We, the twenty MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately; these twenty MPs constitute more than two-thirds of our total… pic.twitter.com/XIOlUMGSsY
— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2026
Senior rebel leader Bandyopadhyay indicated that the faction would seek legal avenues to confirm its status as the ‘true’ TMC and reclaim the party symbol.
The Mamata Banerjee’s faction has vehemently opposed this initiative, contending that it breaches the anti-defection law.
In defense of the party’s stance, Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose pointed out that the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule specifies that a political party must first split or merge before legislators can seek protection from disqualification.
“It is the political party outside Parliament (not those within) that must first undergo a split or merger; only after this condition is met do individuals inside avoid the anti-defection law if two-thirds decide to break away,” she elaborated on X.
Meanwhile, TMC leader Saugata Roy accused the rebel MPs of betraying “their voters by aligning with an obscure party, some National(ist) Citizens Party of India, illegally, while declaring support for the NDA under Modi.”
According to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, political entities can apply for registration from the Election Commission of India. Securing registration confers legal status upon a party, allowing it to contest elections under its name. However, registration does not automatically guarantee an exclusive election symbol, as unrecognized parties typically receive a ‘free symbol’ from the ECI’s inventory.
A recognized party is one that has met specific electoral performance criteria. Recognition as a state or national party is granted based on factors like vote share and the number of seats secured in elections.
TMC MP Kirti Azad remarked that the NCPI is a registered but unrecognized political entity established by Uttiyo Kundu. The party is led by his wife, Shewly Kundu, with Shantanu Dey acting as its organizational secretary.
Although the NCPI can contest elections, it lacks the privileges afforded to recognized state or national parties and has limited electoral visibility.
After assigning the 20 TMC MPs to NCPI, which is a unrecognised political party and was formed by a man Uttiya Kundu who was caught in a chit fund scam and many other, his wife is the President, he is very close to Suvendu Adhikari, another chit fund master, if you recollect… pic.twitter.com/XIFjAZRQHt
— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) June 16, 2026
The conflict extends beyond Parliament. In the West Bengal Assembly, 64 of the party’s 80 MLAs recently broke off and were acknowledged as a distinct legislative group. The Mamata Banerjee faction has contested that determination before the Calcutta High Court.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: Jun 16, 2026 3:36 PM IST
