Trinamool Rebel Camp Moves to Join NCPI, Bypasses Anti-Defection Law

New Delhi/Kolkata (IANS): The rebel majority within the Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha team has ditched plans to form a separate legislative bloc, choosing instead to join the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

Led by four-time MPs Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Satabdi Roy, the rebel faction submitted an official request letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday.

“We will work with the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the interest of the country,” Ghosh Dastidar said, confirming the move.

Expanding the NCPI Footprint

Trinamool Lok Sabha MP from Bankura, Arup Chakraborty, confirmed the development and stated that the NCPI will now establish offices across West Bengal.

Formed in 2022, the relatively lesser-known NCPI already operates offices in Tripura, Assam, and West Bengal, including a base in Howrah district’s Bankra.

A Strategic Shift to Avoid Defection Law

The move marks a sharp U-turn for the rebels. Initially, the faction indicated it would form a breakaway Trinamool bloc—mirroring a previous strategy used in the West Bengal Assembly—before backing the NDA.

This initial plan triggered immediate resistance from the party leadership:

• The Trinamool Preemptive Strike: Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee wrote to the Speaker on Sunday, demanding he deny recognition to any breakaway bloc. Banerjee argued that elected MPs cannot bypass party policy.
• The Rebel Counter-Move: Following Banerjee’s letter, 20 rebel MPs met Speaker Om Birla to submit a formal resolution declaring their entry into the NCPI and their support for the NDA.

Political analysts note that by merging en bloc into an existing registered political party, the rebels likely bypass the penalties of the anti-defection law. The Trinamool Congress currently holds 27 Lok Sabha seats (excluding the vacant Basirhat seat). Because the rebel camp commands more than a two-thirds majority of the party’s parliamentary strength, the anti-defection disqualification rules do not apply to them.

The rebellion peaked following intense speculation that Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee planned to merge her party into the Congress.