Mamata is speechless :::: NDA crosses 300 mark in Lok Sabha !! :::: Now Lok Sabha 'shocker' for Pishi-Bhaipo combo ::: 20 TMC MPs write letter to Lok Sabha Speaker 'expressing desire' to ally with BJP-led NDA

 As many as 20 Trinamool MPs write letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla 'expressing desire' to ally with BJP-led NDA: lawmaker Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.  

Timing was perfect.

As Mamata took her seat alongside Opposition leaders, including the Gandhis, the ground beneath her own feet appeared to be shifting.

Claiming that she continued to be TMC's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the decision to write to Speaker was taken after consultations with fellow MPs.

NDA 300 PAAR IN LOK SABHA  

20 TMC MPs extend SUPPORT to the BJP-led NDA. 

— "We will function as a separate group" .

— NDA's strength rises from 293 to 313 MPs in the Lok Sabha. 

It is not without good reasons that Mamata Banerjee was left speechless.  

As TMC chief and 'ousted' CM focused on projecting opposition unity at the INDI-alliance loc meeting in Delhi, her party appeared to be unraveling back in West Bengal, with internal dissent weakening her authority.

Today, she was left with much diminished position on the national stage.  

'Bengal mutiny against TMC  moves to Delhi'  

Demoralised Gang 

She left the venue after the opposition meeting without answering questions from journalists. 

She was repeatedly asked if her party is about to split and what about the resignation of Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy.   

Sukhendu Roy quit after 13 years as Rajya Sabha whip for TMC

A photo showed Roy meeting five Trinamool Lok Sabha MPs privately

CM Suvendu Adhikari landed in Delhi. He was seen at Union Minister Bhupender Yadav’s Delhi residence with "some rebel TMC MPs".  

Mamata Banerjee was sitting next to Kharge during media briefing after Opposition leaders' meet. 

In the past, the TMC leader generally wanted to replace Congress from the anchoring role for the opposition. But the West Bengal mandate has weakened her position severely.

Things turned worse after about 20 MPs have revolted in Delhi. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, a longtime party insider and TMC chief whip in Rajya Sabha, tendered his resignation from the party and the Upper House of Parliament on Monday, June 8th. 

The opposition alliance meeting was also attended among others by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav and Supriya Sule.  

If TMC rebel MPs have managed 20 numbers; this would mean split in the TMC Lk Sabha wing. In 2024, the party had won 29 members.

The development comes barely days after the Mamata and TMC leadership suffered a setback in the West Bengal Assembly, where 58 of its 80 MLAs defied the party high command's decision to appoint veteran leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition.

Now, "expelled first time" MLA Ritabrata Banerjee is LoP in West Bengal.   

"We have sent a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker and stated that we want to support the NDA," Barasat MP Dr Ghosh Dastidar said.

Sources said the dissident MPs intend to argue before the Speaker that Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar continues to be the valid chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha and that any subsequent changes announced by the party leadership were not completed through the required parliamentary procedure.

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had decided to remove Ghosh Dastidar as chief whip and replace her with Kalyan Banerjee, but that was not communicated to the Lok Sabha secretariat, it is learnt. 

The meeting of rebel MPs was attended by former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and also Lok Sabha MPs Prasun Banerjee, Sharmila Sarkar, Jagadish Chandra Basunia, Kalipada Saren Kherwal and Arup Chakraborty.

Addressing reporters after meeting Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan, Ray confirmed that he had formally submitted his resignation from the Upper House.