by 
Inside the NCPI: The New Home for Rebel TMC MPs
Uttiya Kundu, a prominent figure in the Nationalist Citizens Party (NCPI) and listed as its vice-president for the upcoming Tripura Assembly elections, recently shared a significant post on Facebook. Dated May 13, the image featured West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, accompanied by a caption in Bengali that proclaimed, “The days of merely dreaming are over; now is the time to turn those dreams into reality.” Kundu expressed hope that Adhikari’s journey as Chief Minister would inspire revitalization throughout Bengal.
As the NCPI prepares to solidify its presence in the Lok Sabha with a group of 20 rebel MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the political landscape is shifting. Following a meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar announced,
“We, the 20 MPs elected from the All India Trinamool Congress, met the Speaker and submitted a letter requesting separate seating... We are merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party.”This move comes just before the formal merger, which the MPs claim is backed by more than two-thirds of their party's strength.
In response, TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has urged Speaker Birla to disregard any recognition of the faction, insisting that the Trinamool Congress remains a “single, indivisible political party.” TMC MPs Sagarika Ghose and Kirti Azad delivered a letter to the Speaker, emphasizing the need for consideration before any decisions are made regarding the rebel faction.
The rebel MPs are strategically invoking the anti-defection law, which permits legislators to avoid disqualification if their party merges with another, provided two-thirds support the move. Senior TMC MP Sougata Roy dismissed the merger as “ridiculous,” alleging that it was orchestrated with support from the BJP to navigate parliamentary rules that prohibit recognizing separate factions within a party.
The Origins of the NCPI
The NCPI’s story began in 2022, ahead of the Tripura elections. Official notices for the party were published on October 13, 2022, in local newspapers, revealing its office location in Howrah district. Shewly Kundu serves as the party's president, while Saikat Das and Sudam Jetty hold the positions of general secretary and treasurer, respectively. Their financial disclosures to the Election Commission indicate a modest annual income of Rs 1.13 lakh, with equivalent expenditures and donations.
In the 2023 Tripura Assembly Elections, candidates like Barjeda Tripura and Jahangir Ali, who ran under the NCPI banner, faced dismal outcomes, polling less than 600 votes each. This raises questions about the party's viability and electoral strategy. Interestingly, NCPI’s registered address is linked to Jago Biswa, a Bengali newspaper owned by Uttiya Kundu, who also identifies as a mathematician and motivational speaker.
Uttiya's multifaceted roles include being an auditor for a law firm and previously serving as a director of an NGO until Shewly Kundu took over in 2022. Under the anti-defection law, MPs face disqualification for abandoning their party or voting against its directives, leaving the merger with the NCPI as a crucial lifeline for the rebels.
Historical precedents illustrate the complexities of such political maneuvers. In 2016, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu successfully switched allegiance from the Indian National Congress to the BJP, igniting discussions about the legality of party mergers. Legal experts note that while the law surrounding mergers remains ambiguous, the requirement for a formal merger of the entire party may pose a hurdle for the rebel MPs’ current strategy.
As the situation unfolds, the implications of this merger and the rebels' alignment with the NCPI will be closely scrutinized, with potential ramifications for TMC and the broader political landscape in India.
Comments