Escalating its battle against the dissident MPs, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday formally submitted 20 separate petitions to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking the disqualification of 20 rebel MPs under the anti-defection law.
Leading the delegation, TMC Parliamentary Party leader Abhishek Banerjee met the Speaker along with senior party leaders Sougata Roy, Kalyan Banerjee and Mahua Moitra to hand over the petitions.
“The Tenth Schedule clearly states that voluntarily giving up membership of one’s political party is a ground for disqualification.
Banerjee said that the constitutional provision relating to mergers applies to the original political party and not merely to its legislative wing.
A valid merger can only take place when at least two-thirds of the members of the original political party decide to merge with another political party, he said.
Escalating its battle against the dissident MPs, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday formally submitted 20 separate petitions to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking the disqualification of 20 rebel MPs under the anti-defection law.
Leading the delegation, TMC Parliamentary Party leader Abhishek Banerjee met the Speaker along with senior party leaders Sougata Roy, Kalyan Banerjee and Mahua Moitra to hand over the petitions. Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien was also part of the delegation.
The move comes after the Speaker invited Banerjee to present the party’s position before taking a decision on the rebels’ claim that they have merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and should be recognised as a separate group in the Lok Sabha.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Banerjee argued that the MPs had voluntarily given up their membership of the Trinamool Congress by joining another political party and were therefore liable for disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
“The Tenth Schedule clearly states that voluntarily giving up membership of one’s political party is a ground for disqualification. Even if 28 or 29 MPs of a parliamentary party leave together, it does not amount to a merger under the Constitution,” he said.
Banerjee said that the constitutional provision relating to mergers applies to the original political party and not merely to its legislative wing. A valid merger can only take place when at least two-thirds of the members of the original political party decide to merge with another political party, he said.
