TMC's Tipping Point: 20 Rebel MPs Merge With NCPI, Back NDA in Party's Biggest Crisis

Twenty rebel Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs have triggered the most serious political crisis in the party's history by announcing their merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and pledging support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance , setting off a fierce parliamentary and legal battle with Mamata Banerjee's leadership over the future of one of India's most prominent regional parties.

The dissident MPs, led by senior leaders including Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar , met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking a separate seating arrangement in the House. Dastidar confirmed that the group, claiming to constitute more than two-thirds of the party's total Lok Sabha strength, had submitted a representation to the Speaker and would now extend support to the NDA under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With this, the NCPI has effectively become the second-largest constituent of the NDA after the BJP in terms of Lok Sabha strength, overtaking the TDP's 16 MPs.

The choice of the NCPI raised eyebrows across the political spectrum. The NCPI is an unrecognised party that won only 822 combined votes in the 2023 Tripura elections . The rebels' decision to align with the NCPI is a calculated legal manoeuvre designed to bypass the stringent anti-defection provisions under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. By claiming a two-thirds majority of the legislature party, the breakaway faction aims to secure an immediate shield against disqualification before eventually staking a claim to the parent party itself. Bandyopadhyay made clear the battle would extend further, saying the group intends to approach courts in July to demand recognition as the "real" TMC and stake claim to its election symbol.

According to sources, the merger was discussed at a meeting between the rebel MPs and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav , with BJP MP Biplab Kumar Deb from Tripura also reportedly present. The BJP has sought to use the rebellion to underscore TMC's organisational collapse following its defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections , while stopping short of immediately absorbing the rebels into its own ranks.

The Mamata Banerjee camp has mounted a vigorous counter-offensive. TMC parliamentary party leader Abhishek Banerjee wrote to the Speaker urging him to deny any recognition to the breakaway group, citing constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench ruling in the Maharashtra political crisis case , which held that a split within a legislature party does not amount to a valid merger of the political party. TMC MPs Kirti Azad and Sagarika Ghose personally delivered the letter to the Speaker.

Adding an unexpected complication, NCPI's organisational secretary Shantanu Dey said he was opposed to the merger with TMC MPs named in the Narada and Sarada scams , even as another party leader expressed openness to the development and said he was willing to hold talks with the new members. The internal contradiction within the NCPI itself raised fresh questions about the legal and organisational solidity of the merger.

Senior TMC leaders have been withering in their criticism. Sougata Roy called the merger "ridiculous," questioning how the rebels would face their constituents after abandoning the symbol on which they were elected. Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the rebel MPs should be disqualified outright , insisting legislators cannot independently merge with another party while retaining their seats.

The parliamentary drama unfolds alongside a simultaneous power struggle in West Bengal, where a large bloc of TMC MLAs has already broken away and secured recognition as a separate legislative formation, a decision now challenged before the Calcutta High Court by Mamata Banerjee's faction. With the Speaker's ruling on the merger representation still awaited, and court battles mounting on multiple fronts, the conflict has evolved into a full-scale contest for the soul of one of India's most powerful regional political forces.