No group of people who have separated should be recognised as separate bloc: TMC MP Saugata Roy on rebel MPs row

Jun 19, 2026

New Delhi [India], June 19 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy on Friday said the party will present its stand before the Lok Sabha Speaker on the issue involving rebel MPs, asserting that no group should be recognised as a separate bloc.
He also spoke about the NCPI, while alleging that the BJP "both lures and threatens" leaders.

Speaking to reporters, Roy said, "The Speaker has called Abhishek Banerjee, and we are here with him. We will tell the Speaker whatever we have to. No group of people who have separated from the main party should be recognised as a separate bloc."
Referring to a new political grouping, Roy added, "I don't know anything about this NCPI (Nationalist Citizens Party of India). Go and ask them (20 rebel TMC MPs).BJP both lures and threatens people."
Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee, accompanied by party MPs, arrived at Parliament for the scheduled meeting and said he would speak to the media after attending it.
The delegation is meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to address the announcement by 20 TMC MPs who have declared a merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

Earlier in the day, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee arrived in the national capital, accompanied by party MP Derek O'Brien and Party MP Saugata Roy, to launch a high-stakes legal and political challenge against a faction of rebel MPs.
This move follows a widening internal crisis for the TMC, which is currently grappling with a dual rebellion: 58 MLAs in West Bengal, led by expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee, and the 20 Lok Sabha MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
Meanwhile, senior party MP Saugata Roy has reiterated the party's firm stance against the ongoing rebellion by a faction of its members.
Roy emphasised that the party remains united and dismissed the legitimacy of the splinter group's claims, which include a purported merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
"Abhishek Banerjee had given a letter to the Speaker. We are saying that TMC is one, and if anyone leaves TMC, they will not be considered part of TMC. This division of the party is not in accordance with the Constitution," Saugata Roy stated.
On June 10, Banerjee wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla regarding reports that certain party MPs may seek recognition as a "separate group or faction".
In his communication, Banerjee categorically stated that the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) is a "single, indivisible political party" and that the legislative party in the Lok Sabha exists only as an "emanation of" the parent political party.
Addressing Speaker Om Birla, Banerjee made three specific requests that the submission be formally "placed on record" to contests the legitimacy of any competing "group" or "faction", to recognise the AITC as a single entity represented solely through its authorised Leader and Whip, and to decline any status to "purported separate groups" and to grant the AITC an opportunity to be heard before any decision is made regarding such communications.
"I respectfully request that you may be pleased to: (i) place this submission on record; (ii) treat the AITC as a single political party represented in the House solely through its duly authorised Leader and Whip, and decline to accord any recognition, status, or facility to any purported separate group or faction of the AITC; and afford the AITC an opportunity of being heard before any decision is taken on any communication of the nature referred to above, should the same be received. It is also respectfully submitted that the AITC reserves its rights, including its right to initiate appropriate proceedings under the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, in respect of any conduct falling foul of the provisions referred to herein," Banerjee wrote in his letter.
Banerjee's letter outlines the constitutional and legal framework governing such requests, citing the Supreme Court's judgment in Subhash Desai vs. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra & Ors. (2023).
He emphasised that the legal defence of a "split" is no longer available under the Tenth Schedule following the Ninety-first Amendment. The law treats the splintering of a political party not as a "permissible event," but through the lens of potential disqualification. The political party, rather than the legislative party, holds supreme authority in appointing the Leader and Whip in the House.
"The combined effect of the above is that the relief reportedly sought -- recognition as a separate group or faction of the AITC -- is unknown to law and impermissible," the letter stated. Banerjee further argued that even if a merger were attempted, it would require two conditions to be satisfied: a merger of the political party itself and the switching of two-thirds of the legislative party members.

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