As many as 16 Trinamool Congress MPs, led by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, met West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari at a BJP minister’s residence on Monday, a move that comes amid growing speculation of a split in the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
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These MPs have also written a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, requesting that they be allotted seats as a separate faction. Track INDIA bloc meeting LIVE updates
The names likely among the legislators who met Adhikari include:
- Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar
- Partha Bhowmick
- Jagadish Basunia
- Mitali Bag
- Dev
- Shatabdi Roy
- Rachna Banerjee
- Sharmila Sarkar
- Kalipada Soren
- Arup Chakraborty
- Asit Mal
- Shatrughan Sinha
- Prasun Banerjee
- Pratima Mondal
- Bapi Haldar
Notably, except for Sukhendu Sekhar Ray – a Rajya Sabha member – the other 15 likely names are of Lok Sabha MPs.
If there is a rebellion within the Trinamool Congress, then the rebel legislators would require a 2/3rd majority — 19 seats — in the Lok Sabha to avoid expulsion under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Sukhendu Ray quits TMC
Just earlier in the day, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigned from the Rajya Sabha and quit the Trinamool Congress, alleging that the Mamata Banerjee-led government was marred by corruption and atrocities against women.
He later also said that since he demanded an internal inquiry into the role of police officers in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case, he had been “increasingly isolated” within the party.
“My only fault was that I demanded an internal inquiry against certain police officers because I believed they had a major role in destruction of evidence. That was the turning point. I realised I would not remain in the party for long,” he told reporters.
