Rebel Trinamool MPs must be disqualified, says Abhishek Banerjee

Trinamool Congress leader and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday (June 19, 2026) said the 20 Lok Sabha MPs elected on the party’s ticket in the 2024 general elections, who have now declared a merger with the little-known Nationalist Citizen Party of India (NCPI), are liable for disqualification under the anti-defection law.

Mr. Banerjee said the party submitted all relevant Supreme Court judgments concerning the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and urged him to rule on the disqualification petition at the earliest.

“We presented all Supreme Court judgments concerning the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to the Lok Sabha Speaker. All cases are against them (the rebel group). They are claiming to be a separate group, they want one of them to be elected the Lok Sabha leader of NCPI, Chief Whip and so on. This isn’t possible. They have to be disqualified,” he said.

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Mr. Banerjee said the Constitution clearly mandates that at least two-thirds of the political party, and not just the legislative party, must agree to a merger for it to be considered valid. “We have left it to the judgment of the Speaker. Mr. Birla told us that he will call the 20 rebel MPs for a hearing and then come back to us. I hope the Lok Sabha Speaker works on a constitutional basis and does not smother the Constitution,” he said.

Mr. Banerjee accused the 20 MPs of “disrespecting” the Constitution and betraying the mandate of the people. “If they have even a little integrity, they should vacate their seats. They claim they have a problem with the Trinamool Congress, so then why not vacate the seats? If you have political integrity, let there be an election, they can contest on the BJP ticket or NCPI ticket and let the public decide,” he said.

The Trinamool leader alleged that external pressure and inducements were behind the decision of the 20 MPs. “Someone is worried about ED, someone is worried about CBI, someone is getting money, some are giving in to intimidation. I have concrete proof about this. If any of them feel offended by my remarks, they should file a case against me, I will prove it in a court of law,” he said. 

Mr. Banerjee said that in the past month-and-a-half, he has been summoned five times. “Thrice I have gone to CID, twice my house has been raided,” he said. On the contrary, he said, the security cover for the 20 MPs have been enhanced by a government “that runs bulldozers on people”.