Om Birla gives nod to merger of Uddhav rebels with Shinde Sena, TMC rebels with NCPI

The changes come ahead of the all-party meeting on Sunday morning and the monsoon session from Monday onwards.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) lawmakers with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Sena and allotted a separate seating arrangement for the 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament.

The rebels’ plan to secure recognition as members of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a nondescript party based in West Bengal and Tripura, still waits clearance from the Lok Sabha's top office.

A senior official claimed that the merger issue of the TMC rebels is “under consideration” and “an appropriate decision would be taken shortly”. Two TMC rebels told HT they are hopeful that it will be approved in a day or two.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance will have 319 MPs in the Lok Sabha, still short of 41 members for the two-thirds majority mark of 360 in the House. And Sena has emerged as the second-largest ally after TDP, with 15 Members —13 in the Lok Sabha and 2 in the Upper House.

An internal circular issued by the Lok Sabha's Table Office on Saturday said, "Consequent upon the change in party affiliation of 6 members of Shiv Sena UBT in Lok Sabha, a revised party position in the 18th Lok Sabha is enclosed."

The circular showed Shiv Sena's 13 lawmakers and Sena UBT left with 3 MPs. The circular also added that 20 TMC members would sit separately.

The changes come ahead of the all-party meeting on Sunday morning and the monsoon session from Monday onwards. Interestingly, the government has already invited the rebel TMC leaders to attend the meeting as NCPI representatives.

A letter from parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju to Sudip Bandopadhyay said, "Recently, you and 19 other MPs have joined NCPI, and have already requested the Hon'ble Speaker Lok Sabha for recognition, which is under his consideration." Bandhopadhyay also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening.

TMC's Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O'Brien criticised the Speaker's decision to allow separate seats.

"Mocking our democracy. Speaker has referred to 20 traitors as still being TMC MPs. Minutes later, Modi-Shah minister invites traitors for all-party meet & refers to them as NCPI," he tweeted.

The TMC rebels, led by Sudip Bandopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, had met Birla on June 14 to submit an application for merger. Around the same time, six Sena MPs had met Birla for a similar purpose.

Birla met both the TMC leadership, including the party's floor leader Abhishek Banerjee, and the Sena UBT brass.

Earlier this week, rebel TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar told HT that the Speaker had assured the group that they would get a separate office and seating arrangement in Parliament, which was an indirect recognition of the merger with NCPI.

Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.