The Lok Sabha Secretariat has given 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs another 15 days to respond to petitions seeking their disqualification under the anti-defection law, extending the deadline until October 8 as the battle over their parliamentary status remains unresolved. The MPs had sought a 30-day extension until October 22, saying they needed additional time to gather documents and prepare their replies.
The proceedings stem from disqualification petitions moved by TMC national general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee after the 20 MPs broke away from the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, announced their association with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and extended support to the BJP-led NDA. The rebel MPs have maintained that their move is protected under the merger provision of the Tenth Schedule, a position contested by the Mamata faction.
October 8 deadline
The MPs had earlier been granted additional time after receiving notices from the Lok Sabha Secretariat in August. NCPI parliamentary chairperson Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar had said the group was initially given three weeks to submit its response, but the MPs subsequently sought another extension.
The Secretariat has now allowed them 15 additional days instead of the 30 days they requested. Their replies are consequently due by October 8, after which the disqualification proceedings are expected to move to the next stage.
The dispute centres on the decision of 20 TMC MPs to break ranks and align themselves with the NCPI after the political upheaval that followed the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The rebel camp has sought recognition as a separate parliamentary group, while the Mamata faction argues that their conduct amounted to voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose ticket they were elected.
Two-thirds argument at centre
The rebel MPs have relied on the merger provision under the Tenth Schedule, which protects legislators from disqualification where at least two-thirds of a legislature party agrees to a merger with another political party. With 20 MPs involved, the group maintains that it crossed the numerical threshold required for such protection.
The Mamata faction disputes that interpretation and has argued that the MPs’ decision to associate with the NCPI and support the NDA amounted to defection. It has also questioned whether the claimed merger satisfies the constitutional requirements necessary to attract the two-thirds exemption.
The parliamentary position has remained unusual during the dispute. Lok Sabha records have continued to identify the 20 lawmakers as TMC MPs even as they have sought recognition as a separate group and have been allotted separate seats in the House.
Battle reaches Supreme Court
Banerjee had submitted petitions to Speaker Om Birla in June seeking action against each of the 20 MPs. With no final decision forthcoming, he subsequently moved the Supreme Court seeking an expeditious conclusion to the proceedings.
On August 25, the Supreme Court issued notices to the 20 rebel MPs on Banerjee’s petition. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that he would appear on behalf of the Speaker and the Lok Sabha Secretariat, following which the court did not issue a formal notice to Birla at that stage.
The court indicated that its concern was not merely whether notices had been issued but whether the proceedings would be concluded within a reasonable timeframe. The disqualification question consequently remains active on two fronts — before the Speaker under the Tenth Schedule and before the Supreme Court over the time being taken to decide it.
Rebel camp faces its own divisions
The controversy has been complicated further by differences among the rebel MPs over their political future. Earlier this month, Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia claimed that 17 of the 20 MPs planned to join the BJP around Durga Puja, arguing that their numbers would protect them from disqualification.
Other rebel MPs publicly disputed his claim, saying no collective decision to join the BJP had been taken. The BJP also distanced itself from Basunia’s remarks and said expressing a desire to join the party did not mean an individual would automatically be admitted.
For now, the immediate focus returns to the Speaker’s proceedings. With the Lok Sabha Secretariat granting only half of the additional time sought by the rebel MPs, October 8 has become the next crucial date in a defection dispute that could determine the parliamentary future of 20 lawmakers.