Key facts
- Twenty Lok Sabha MPs from the Trinamool Congress have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
- The NCPI previously fielded candidates in the 2023 Tripura assembly elections with minimal success.
- The rebel MPs announced their intention to support the NDA.
- The NCPI's campaign slogan was 'reject political turncoats to save your rights.'
- The rebel MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to seek separate seating arrangements.
A little-known political outfit, the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), has unexpectedly entered national politics after 20 Lok Sabha MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced their merger with it. The NCPI, which had previously fielded candidates in the 2023 Tripura assembly elections with minimal success and a slogan of 'reject political turncoats to save your rights,' saw its national profile significantly elevated by this development.
The rebel TMC MPs stated their intention to support the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Following the announcement, the MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to seek separate seating arrangements in the House. Rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar indicated that two-thirds of the TMC's Lok Sabha MPs had submitted a letter to the Speaker requesting recognition as a separate group.
Records show the NCPI contested three seats in the 2023 Tripura polls, with candidates finishing with very few votes, sometimes behind NOTA. One such candidate, Barjeda Tripura, who secured 536 votes, expressed surprise at the merger announcement, stating he was a daily wage labourer and had contested after being approached by an individual named Krishna Debbarma. His election affidavit indicated he studied until class 8 and declared assets worth Rs 4 lakh.
The NCPI's registered address is in West Bengal's Howrah, and its president is listed as Sheuli Kundu, an advocate. The party's campaign posters urged voters to support social workers over political personalities.