Key facts
- Senior TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay has formally joined a dissident faction within the party.
- The dissident faction proposes retaining Mamata Banerjee in an advisory role.
- Rebel MPs claim their strength in the Lok Sabha will reach 22.
- The faction plans to meet the Lok Sabha Speaker to seek recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc.
- Bandyopadhyay met with Union Ministers Bhupender Yadav and Amit Shah prior to his announcement.
- A similar breakaway legislative formation of 64 MLAs was recognized in the West Bengal assembly.
Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of Parliament Sudip Bandyopadhyay has formally aligned himself with a dissident faction seeking control of the party's parliamentary wing. Bandyopadhyay endorsed a proposal to retain party supremo Mamata Banerjee in an advisory role, a move that mirrors the strategy of a rebel bloc in the West Bengal assembly.
Bandyopadhyay, a long-serving parliamentarian and former Lok Sabha party leader for TMC, stated that appeals from MPs and MLAs to keep Banerjee as a guiding figure influenced his decision. He indicated he would sign the rebels' petition to the Lok Sabha Speaker only after meeting Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The dissident group, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, claimed that two more Lok Sabha members were set to join them, potentially bringing their strength to 22. They plan to meet Speaker Om Birla to seek recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc. This development follows a similar breakaway by 64 TMC MLAs in the West Bengal assembly, a move that has been challenged in court.
Bandyopadhyay's alignment with the dissidents comes after meetings with Union Ministers Bhupender Yadav and Amit Shah, fueling speculation about his political future and the consolidation of anti-Mamata forces in Bengal politics following the recent assembly election outcome.