The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), which now has 20 TMC rebel MPs as its members, is likely to get Speaker Om Birla's recognition after a move by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, which saw the group leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay attend the customary all-party meeting ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Protesting against the move, the entire opposition on Sunday staged a symbolic walkout from the all-party meeting. They also protested against the Speaker’s decision to allow them separate seats in the House and the merger of the rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
"I am attending today as a leader of a new political party, NCPI-Nationalist Citizen Party of India. For the last 15 years, I was the leader of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party, but today I will represent a new party. Let the House run, and equally we are the firm believers of the principle of secularism, communal harmony and unity of the country. We are not moving away from that, and it will reflect in the meeting. We are completely secular by nature," he told reporters.
According to sources in the Lok Sabha Secretariat, arrangements have been made for the rebel TMC MPs to sit separately in the Assembly chamber. The internal circular also read that Shiv Sena has 13 MPs and Shiv Sena (UBT) has three MPs, who will sit separately. .
The communication also names Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as NCPI’s Chief Whip.
The Opposition alleges that inviting the MPs of a party that is yet to be approved by the Lok Sabha Speaker was against parliamentary norms. "Our objection is that an unrecognised party, whose name is not even on the Parliament's website, has been invited to the all-party meeting," Saugata Roy said.
However, the MPs have reportedly maintained that they are no longer part of the TMC.
“These MPs have consistently maintained that they are no longer part of the Trinamool Congress and are functioning as the NCPI parliamentary group. The all-party meeting is meant to hear the views of all parties and groups represented in Parliament, and the invitations have been issued on that basis," NDTV quoted a source.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar too told the channel they remained positive about being approved. "Such a decision takes time. We will be submitting all the required papers to the Speaker," she said.
