LS Speaker Om Birla Clears Sena Merger, Separate Seats for TMC Rebels
Banerjee submitted 20 separate petitions seeking disqualification of the rebel MPs and argued that individual legislators cannot claim a valid merger without the required two-thirds of the full party.
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and permitted separate seating for 20 rebel Trinamul Congress (TMC) MPs ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning July 20.
Sources said the merger raises the strength of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha to 13. The 20 rebel TMC MPs, who have joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), will be seated separately from their parent party.
“No final decision has been taken on the demand of the rebel TMC MPs to be recognised as part of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and the matter is still under consideration,” sources said.
The TMC and Shiv Sena (UBT) have sought disqualification of their respective rebel MPs under the anti-defection law. The rebel TMC MPs are likely to attend Sunday’s all-party meeting.
The Speaker had earlier met delegations from the TMC, led by Abhishek Banerjee, and its breakaway group. A similar exercise was undertaken with Shiv Sena (UBT).
Sources said consultations were held with legal and constitutional experts of Parliament before the decisions were taken. “Past precedents, decisions taken by the former speakers of Lok Sabha and chairmen of Rajya Sabha in similar situations were also examined before taking the informed and legally sound decisions,” they said.
The DMK has also sought separate seating away from the Congress following the end of their alliance in Tamil Nadu and the Congress aligning with Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s party, TVK. The request is likely to be accepted.
Of the 29 MPs elected on TMC tickets in the 2024 general election, 20 have joined the NCPI, a registered unrecognised party based in Howrah, and sought separate seating. The group has also expressed support for the Narendra Modi government and interest in joining the NDA. One TMC seat is vacant following the death of an MP.
In the Shiv Sena (UBT), six of its nine MPs have joined the rival Shiv Sena led by Shinde.
Both parties argued before the Speaker that the defections attract provisions of the anti-defection law and contended that exemption applies only if two-thirds of the entire party merges with another party.
Banerjee submitted 20 separate petitions seeking disqualification of the rebel MPs and argued that individual legislators cannot claim a valid merger without the required two-thirds of the full party.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai said the party had conveyed to the Speaker that the Tenth Schedule is clear: "Any group of a legislature party cannot merge into some other party on its own, even if they have a two-thirds majority".
On July 14, rebel TMC leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar met the Speaker to discuss seating arrangements for their MPs and sought allocation of office space in the new Parliament building.
