Twenty TMC MPs Merge With NCPI to Support NDA

The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) is facing an organizational collapse after losing the West Bengal Assembly elections to the BJP. A faction of 20 Lok Sabha MPs, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, formally merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a registered but unrecognized Tripura-based party, on June 14, 2026. This strategic merger aims to bypass anti-defection laws by meeting the two-thirds threshold of the party's 28-member parliamentary strength, allowing the group to offer support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) without immediate disqualification.

The parliamentary rebellion mirrors a crisis in the West Bengal Assembly, where a bloc of 58 to 64 MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee has claimed leadership of the party's legislative wing. Simultaneously, the party suffered high-profile resignations from the Rajya Sabha by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Sushmita Dev, and Prakash Chik Baraik. Internal strife further escalated when senior MP Kalyan Banerjee issued an ultimatum to party chief Mamata Banerjee to choose between him and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, whom he accused of arrogance.

Mamata Banerjee and her loyalists, including MPs Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad, have condemned the dissidents as traitors and dismissed the NCPI merger as a legal farce orchestrated by the BJP's 'Operation Lotus.' Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is currently reviewing the rebels' request for separate seating and recognition as the 'real TMC,' having invited both the dissident and official factions to formal hearings. The NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha has subsequently increased to approximately 313 seats.