Lok Sabha speaker approves merger of six Uddhav Sena MPs with Eknath Shinde faction

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six rebel MPs of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) with the rival faction led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, ANI reported.

The six of the Uddhav Sena’s nine MPs in the Lower House of Parliament had joined the Shinde-led faction on June 22. The Shinde Sena, which now has 13 Lok Sabha MPs, is part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

On Saturday, the speaker also accepted the request by 20 rebel MPs of the Trinamool Congress to sit separately in the Lok Sabha chamber. However, it appeared that the faction’s merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India in the Lower House had not been cleared.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the rebel TMC group’s request to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India was being considered by the speaker, ANI reported. However, Rijiju invited faction MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay for a floor leaders’ meeting on Sunday.

This ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which will begin on Monday.

Uddhav Sena split

The six rebel MPs had joined the Shinde-led faction, days after skipping a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group on June 18. The meeting was held a day after the Uddhav Sena alleged that its MPs were being offered Rs 15 crore each to join the Shinde Sena.

The Uddhav Sena had initiated disciplinary action against the six legislators.

On June 24, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction contended before Birla that the rebel MPs, even if they constituted two-thirds of the party’s legislature wing in the Lok Sabah, cannot merge with another party on its own without the approval from the original party.

The Uddhav Sena representatives had urged the speaker to ensure that the provisions of the Constitution’s 10th Schedule, which details the anti-defection law, are followed before any decision is taken. They also contended that only a political party can decide to merge with another and that such a decision is to be approved by the required number of legislators.

Trinamool split

In the case of the Trinamool Congress, party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar had announced on June 14 that 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs will merge with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India and support the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA in the Lower House.

In response, TMC’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Abhishek Banerjee, had on June 19 submitted petitions to Birla demanding that the 20 rebel MPs be disqualified on the grounds of leaving the party.

He had argued that the 10th Schedule of the Constitution was clear that if a member voluntarily gives up the party’s membership, they are to be disqualified as MPs.

The speaker had asked Abhishek Banerjee to present his case against the Dastidar-led faction’s decision.

Citing the 10th Schedule, Abhishek Banerjee had also contended that the merger can be considered valid only if two-thirds of a political party, not the legislature party, merges into another party.

The Nationalist Citizens Party of India did not have any MPs before the merger.

The TMC has been beset by internal divisions and rebellions after it lost the Assembly elections to the BJP in May. Nearly 60 out of the TMC’s 80 MLAs have rebelled against the party leadership to choose Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

The group has been recognised by the Assembly speaker as the party’s legislature party in the House, and Ritabrata Banerjee has been recognised as the leader of the Opposition.

On July 9, three TMC Rajya Sabha MPs who had resigned from the House in June joined the BJP. They were elected unopposed to the Upper House on BJP tickets on Friday.

On Thursday, one more TMC MP resigned from the Rajya Sabha. With this, the Trinamool Congress’ strength in the Upper House fell to nine from what was 13 in May.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.