NEW DELHI: Twenty rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs in Lok Sabha are set to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party and would extend their support to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday. This came after hours long meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in New Delhi.”We, the twenty MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately; these twenty MPs constitute more than two-thirds of our total strength. We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party. Moving forward, we will work for the nation and collaborate with the NDA under the leadership of the Prime Minister,” said rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.Another rebel TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay indicated that the faction would take legal route for the name TMC. “We have joined the Nationalist Citizens’ Party. This is a political party. It is a recognised regional party. We have merged with it… It will be decided in the court which one the real TMC is,” he said. Earlier, Abhishek Banerjee wrote to Birla, urging him not to recognise any separate faction of the party.”The AITC is a single, indivisible political party. The legislative party in the Lok Sabha derives its very existence from, and remains an emanation of, the political party. There is in law only one AITC, one Leader of the Party in the House, and one Whip, all of whom hold office by authority of the political party and its competent organisational authority. No member or set of members can, by their own volition, carve out a parallel ‘group’ or ‘faction’ of the same party and claim independent recognition within the House,” he said in the letter.The merger, if approved by the Speaker, would be a major setback to the TMC, potentially reducing its strength in the Lok Sabha to just 20 MPs and reshaping the opposition’s parliamentary arithmetic. It would also mark the most significant split in the party’s parliamentary wing since Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.About the AuthorTOI News DeskThe TOI News Desk comprises a dedicated and tireless team of journalists who operate around the clock to deliver the most current and comprehensive news and updates to the readers of The Times of India worldwide. With an unwavering commitment to excellence in journalism, our team is at the forefront of gathering, verifying, and presenting breaking news, in-depth analysis, and insightful reports on a wide range of topics. 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NEW DELHI: Twenty rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs in Lok Sabha are set to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party and would extend their support to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday. This came after hours long meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in New Delhi.“We, the twenty MPs elected from the AITC, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting to sit separately; these twenty MPs constitute more than two-thirds of our total strength. We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party. Moving forward, we will work for the nation and collaborate with the NDA under the leadership of the Prime Minister,” said rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.Another rebel TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay indicated that the faction would take legal route for the name TMC. “We have joined the Nationalist Citizens’ Party. This is a political party. It is a recognised regional party. We have merged with it… It will be decided in the court which one the real TMC is,” he said. Earlier, Abhishek Banerjee wrote to Birla, urging him not to recognise any separate faction of the party.“The AITC is a single, indivisible political party. The legislative party in the Lok Sabha derives its very existence from, and remains an emanation of, the political party. There is in law only one AITC, one Leader of the Party in the House, and one Whip, all of whom hold office by authority of the political party and its competent organisational authority. No member or set of members can, by their own volition, carve out a parallel ‘group’ or ‘faction’ of the same party and claim independent recognition within the House,” he said in the letter.The merger, if approved by the Speaker, would be a major setback to the TMC, potentially reducing its strength in the Lok Sabha to just 20 MPs and reshaping the opposition’s parliamentary arithmetic. It would also mark the most significant split in the party’s parliamentary wing since Mamata Banerjee founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998.