The crisis within the TMC deepened on Monday as 20 Lok Sabha MPs, led by Chief Whip Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, wrote to Speaker Om Birla declaring support for the BJP-led NDA even as Mamata Banerjee put up a brave face, attending the INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi.
The decision indicated a split in TMC's parliamentary unit, dealing a severe blow to Mamata Banerjee's authority.
Speaking to news agency PTI over the phone, Ghosh Dastidar said the MPs had informed the Speaker of their decision to support the NDA.
"Nearly twenty TMC MPs, including me, have decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and formally support the NDA. We have sent a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker and stated that we want to support the NDA," she was quoted as saying.
PTI quoted sources as saying that the dissident MPs intend to argue before the Speaker that Ghosh Dastidar continues to be the valid chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha and that any subsequent changes announced by the party leadership were not completed through the required parliamentary procedure.
Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had decided to remove Ghosh Dastidar as chief whip and replace her with Kalyan Banerjee, but that was not communicated to the Lok Sabha secretariat, another rebel TMC MP told PTI.
Claiming that she continues to be the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Ghosh Dastidar said the decision was taken after consultations among fellow parliamentarians.
"We have accepted the people's verdict and believe that our future political course should be aligned with the NDA," she said.
According to sources in the dissident camp, the MPs have chosen not to immediately resign from the TMC or join the BJP. Instead, they intend to function as a separate parliamentary bloc while supporting the NDA, a strategy designed to ensure protection under the anti-defection law.
The TMC has 28 MPs in Lok Sabha and 13 in Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, reports said as many as 16 MPs, led by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Ghosh Dastidar, met with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at a BJP minister's residence.
