PoliticsParliament
Rebel Trinamool MPs face Speaker's deadline today on disqualification pleas
The 20 MPs who broke away to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India must answer Abhishek Banerjee's anti-defection petitions by Tuesday, after three extensions and a Supreme Court nudge.
Key points
- The 20 rebel MPs must reply to the disqualification petitions by Tuesday, 20 October.
- Speaker Om Birla's office granted the date on 11 October, two days short of what the MPs asked for.
- The Supreme Court has asked the Speaker to decide the petitions "expeditiously".
The 20 Trinamool Congress MPs who walked out of Mamata Banerjee’s party in June run out of time on Tuesday to answer the petitions seeking their disqualification from the Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s office set 20 October as the deadline on 11 October, after the MPs asked for time until 22 October. It was the latest of several extensions. The Speaker had first issued notices and then, on 25 September, given the group until 8 October; on that date the MPs wrote back asking for two more weeks, saying their lawyers were still gathering documents.
The petitions were filed on 18 June by Abhishek Banerjee, who leads the Mamata Banerjee faction, under the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985. They followed the rebels’ announcement on 14 June, after a meeting with the Speaker, that they would merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, a little-known party that backs the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The rebels, 20 of the Trinamool’s 27 Lok Sabha members, say their move does not attract disqualification and that they are entitled to a separate political identity after losing confidence in the party’s leadership. The Mamata camp calls it a coordinated defection under the Tenth Schedule. Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh has accused them of serving the BJP’s interests.
Parliamentary records still list the 20 as Trinamool members, although they were given separate seating before the Monsoon Session.
Abhishek Banerjee has also gone to the Supreme Court over the delay. On 25 September the court observed that the Speaker should dispose of the petitions “expeditiously”. The court returns from its Dussehra break on 26 October.
Whether the MPs file their replies on Tuesday or seek more time, the next move rests with the Speaker. The numbers matter beyond Bengal: the bloc’s 20 votes affect the NDA’s strength in the Lok Sabha amid talk that the government may bring back its delimitation bill.