Kolkata, June 14 (IANS). Trinamool Congress (TMC) rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday claimed that now not only 20 but a total of 22 MPs have joined the rebel faction of the party led by her.
Kakoli Ghosh made this claim when she was leaving for Delhi. There is news that an important meeting of rebel MPs of Trinamool Congress is going to be held in Delhi.
Kakoli Ghosh said that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has given him an appointment on Monday. The rebel MPs will meet the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on Monday and hand over a letter to him and demand the formation of a separate block (faction) in the Parliament.
On Saturday, Kolkata North MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay also joined the rebel group, after which the number of rebel MPs was said to be 20.
According to sources from a section of rebel MPs, earlier this meeting was proposed in Kolkata on Sunday, but later it was decided to organize it in Delhi.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was also expected to attend this meeting. However, it was told that the officer is not going to Delhi as he has to attend a program in Digha.
While going to Delhi, Kakoli Ghosh claimed that two more MPs were going to join the rebel Trinamool faction.
Speaking to the media at the airport, she said, “I am going to Delhi for a meeting. There are a total of 22 people with us. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha has given an appointment on Monday. We will meet him and make a formal demand for the formation of a separate block.”
However, Kakoli Ghosh did not clarify who were the two MPs who would join the rebel group after reaching Delhi.
He said that when those MPs formally become part of the rebel group, the media will be informed about it.
He said, “Those who have expressed their honest views against the situation that has arisen in West Bengal in the last four-five years have been contacted. The number of our group has now reached 22.”
Recently, after the results of West Bengal Assembly elections, there is a continuous situation of turmoil in Trinamool Congress.
On June 1, signs of division in the Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party were clearly visible in the Lok Sabha. Most of the party MPs had rebelled against the leadership and control of party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
When this rebellion of MPs became public, Mamata Banerjee and party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee were present in Delhi.
On June 1 itself, Kakoli Ghosh, a prominent leader of the rebel group, had claimed that she had the support of about 20 MPs and they wanted to support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre.
Meanwhile, a document became public on Friday, which was signed by 19 Trinamool Congress MPs.
The first signature on this document was of Kakoli Ghosh, while the second signature was of Shatabdi Roy. Apart from this, signatures of Bapi Haldar, Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Banerjee, Jagdish Basunia, Asit Mal, Arup Chakraborty, Kalipada Soren, Deepak Adhikari alias Dev, June Maliya, Parth Bhowmik, Khalilur Rahman, Abu Taher Khan, Yusuf Pathan, Mithali Bagh and Mala Roy were also present.
Party MPs Rachna Banerjee and Sayoni Ghosh also signed this document separately later.
According to sources of rebel MPs, these 19 MPs have written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding recognition of them as a separate parliamentary block under the leadership of Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
However, it is not clear whether the Speaker of the Lok Sabha has received this letter or not and if so, when was it received.
Sources in the rebel MPs have already indicated that they have decided to support the BJP-led NDA alliance.
Kakoli Ghosh claims that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha has given him an appointment on Monday, where he will make a formal demand for the formation of a separate parliamentary block.
The number of MPs increased to 20 after Sudip Bandyopadhyay joined the rebel group on Saturday. Now, after Kakoli Ghosh’s claim of 22 MPs, the discussion has intensified in political circles as to who are the two new MPs who have supported the rebel group.
At present, the eight rebel MPs whose signatures are not in the documents that have surfaced include Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee, Saugata Roy, Mahua Moitra, Kirti Azad, Shatrughan Sinha, Pratima Mandal and Sajda Ahmed.
–IANS
dsc