June Maliah, Saayoni Ghosh, and Shatrughan Sinha are reportedly among the Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar-led group of 19 rebel TMC Lok Sabha MPs, who have written to Speaker Om Birla conveying their decision that they will support the ruling BJP-led NDA government in Parliament.
The list includes some of the closest aides of TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee and fiercest critics of the BJP-led regime.
Earlier this week, some of these MPs met Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari at the residence of Union Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi to discuss their future strategy.
The bloc is led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who had stepped down from all party positions last month, suggesting the rebellion was planned by her in advance.
According to reports, other MPs in the list of 19 TMC rebels include Jagadish Chandra Barma, Khalilur Rahaman, Yusuf Pathan, Abu Taher Khan, Partha Bhowmick, Bapi Halder, Mala Roy, Mitali Bag, Deepak Adhikari (Dev), Kalipada Soren, Arup Chakraborty, Dr Sharmila Sarkar, Asit Kumar Mal, Satabdi Roy, and Rachna Banerjee.
The TMC has 28 MPs in the Lok Sabha and the rebels need at least 19 parliamentarians (one third of the total) to avoid expulsion under the anti-defection law.
Full list of TMC rebels
1 Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Barasat)
2 Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia (Cooch Behar)
3 Khalilur Rahaman (Jangipur)
4 Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur)
5 Abu Taher Khan (Murshidabad)
6 Partha Bhowmick (Barrackpore)
7 Bapi Halder (Mathurapur)
8 Saayoni Ghosh (Jadavpur)
9 Mala Roy (Kolkata South)
10 Mitali Bag (Arambagh)
11 Deepak ‘Dev’ Adhikari (Ghatal)
12 Kalipada Soren (Jhargram)
13 June Maliah (Medinipur)
14 Arup Chakraborty (Bankura)
15 Dr Sharmila Sarkar (Bardhaman East)
16 Shatrughan Sinha (Asansol)
17 Asit Kumar Mal (Bolpur)
18 Satabdi Roy (Birbhum)
19 Rachna Banerjee (Hooghly)
While most of them have not made any public comments, some of the TMC rebels have justified their decision to join hands with the ruling BJP, a party they had been fiercely criticising until a few days ago.
Speaking about their decision, Sharmila Sarkar, who is among the 19 rebel MPs, said that they were unable to work under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and that is why they formed a separate bloc.
“I wanted to work, but I could not. Under the leadership of Kakoli di, this separate bloc has been formed. This will help in the development of Bengal,” said Sharmila Sarkar.
The Bardhaman Purba MP further confirmed that they will support the BJP-led NDA. “We need to support NDA for Bengal’s development. Kakoli di submitted the letter. So far, she is leading our bloc,” she added.
Satabdi Roy, who is also among the group of 19 dissident parliamentarians, was tight-lipped when asked about the political crisis unfolding within the TMC.
“Time will tell. You will get to know everything,” Roy told reporters at the Kolkata airport after her trip to Delhi.
Meanwhile, the leader of the TMC dissidents, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, said that they were not satisfied with the functioning of the party and hence want to support the NDA.
“We are twenty of us who are dissatisfied with the functioning of our party inside the Lok Sabha and on the ground in the state of West Bengal,” Dastidar said.