Twenty rebel TMC MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday and announced their merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a Tripura-based registered unrecognised political party. The political fallout had led to senior opposition leaders accusing the Centre of engineering the split to boost its parliamentary numbers.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah had “masterminded” the breakaway of the 20 TMC MPs with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
“A desperate Union home minister - who is an absolute disgrace to the position once held by Sardar Patel - has taken Indian democracy to new lows in a shameless manner. He has masterminded the illegal breakaway of 20 TMC MPs and their wholly questionable fusion with an unheard of and reportedly registered but unrecognised political outfit formed just three years back,” he posted.
Calling the move “illegal” and “shameless,” Gandhi claimed it was part of a strategy to secure a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the Lok Sabha.
He mentioned in his post that NCPI, which is relatively obscure and extremely unrecognised, could end up becoming the “second largest in the NDA, ahead of even the long-established and long-experienced TDP and JD(U)”
He alleged that this episode reflects how “decency, decorum, and devotion to Constitutional values and principles remain vulnerable and threatened every day” while BJP holds power.
Separately, NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil echoed concerns over the political developments, alleging that parties were being split and manipulated to ensure sufficient support for the Centre’s proposed delimitation exercise.
"The government wants to get this (delimitation bill) passed at any cost. That is why every party is being broken and manipulated, and efforts are being made to gather as many MPs as possible," Patil told reporters when asked about the merger of rebel MPs of the Trinamool Congress into the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
Questioning the need to increase the number of elected representatives through delimitation, Patil said legislators often did not get an opportunity to speak even with the present strength of legislatures.
"If the number rises, where will they be able to speak? Merely increasing the numbers will not solve the problems of Maharashtra and the country," the NCP (SP) leader said.
Efficient administration was key to better governance rather than the number of legislators, the former Maharashtra minister added.
On concerns over possible defections, Patil said every party faced the risk of splits due to pressures of different kinds.