19 TMC MPs join rebel group; Yusuf Pathan, Saayoni Ghosh, Mala Roy on list

NEW DELHI: The rebel group of parliamentarians in the Trinamool Congress is believed to have secured the support of 19 MPs — the two-thirds of the party's parliamentary strength required to form a separate faction.Yusuf Pathan, Saayoni Ghosh and Mala Roy are among the MPs who have signed the rebel list, pushing the party towards a vertical split.Trinamool Congress is heading towards one of the biggest setbacks in its 28-year history as the party battles a full-fledged internal uprising. Weeks after suffering a bruising defeat in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee's party has already witnessed a major split in the assembly and is now facing the threat of a vertical split in Parliament.This comes as Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed that a large section of TMC MPs are prepared to part ways with Mamata Banerjee. Kakoli, who resigned from the party, has emerged as the face of the parliamentary rebellion.The rebels insist they are not planning to formally join the BJP. "We will not join BJP. We will support NDA," Dastidar said.A letter carrying the signatures of rebel MPs was reportedly submitted to the Speaker's office, although no formal acknowledgement has yet been made public.The party had earlier faced a rebellion by its MLAs, with expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee stating that 58 TMC legislators have been given recognition in the Assembly as the opposition group.Meanwhile, TMC MP Mahua Moitra slammed the rebel faction, terming them "traitors", and said that even if they get two-thirds of the MPs, "which they have not", the only option "is to merge with BJP along with two-thirds of the political party".She said in a post on X that the matter has already been settled by a court verdict."Even if traitors get 19 MPs (2/3), which they have not, the only option is to merge with BJP along with 2/3 of the political party. Bhupinder Yadav and the Lok Sabha Speaker cannot create a separate political party or faction. A five-judge bench in Subhash Desai vs Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra (2023), settled this," she said.