Congress accuses Amit Shah of engineering TMC MPs’ merger with NCPI

The Congress alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah masterminded the merger of 20 rebel TMC MPs with the NCPI to strengthen the NDA in the Lok Sabha. The TMC called the move illegal under anti-defection law, while tensions escalate politically

New Delhi: With 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs announcing their merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, the Congress on Monday claimed that Home Minister Amit Shah masterminded the “illegal breakaway” of the legislators, and the “bizarre move” was part of his strategy to engineer a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the Lok Sabha.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that decency, decorum, and devotion to constitutional values and principles remain vulnerable and threatened every day Shah continues in office.

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“A desperate Union home minister who is an absolute disgrace to the position once held by Sardar Patel has taken Indian democracy to new lows in a shameless manner,” Ramesh said on X.

“He has masterminded the illegal breakaway of 20 TMC MPs and their wholly questionable fusion with an unheard of and reportedly registered but unrecognised political outfit formed just three years back,” the Congress general secretary (communications) said.

The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) could well end up becoming the second-largest (constituent) in the NDA, ahead of even the long-established and long-experienced TDP and JD(U), who should actually be protesting their “downgrade” through such “underhand tactics” and in such a “disgusting” manner, Ramesh said.

“This bizarre move is part of the Union home minister’s strategy to engineer a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the Lok Sabha. Decency, decorum and devotion to constitutional values and principles remain vulnerable and threatened every day he continues in office,” the Congress leader said.

On Sunday, 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and announced that they were merging with the NCPI, a Tripura-based registered unrecognised political party.

Rebel TMC MP Arup Chakraborty on Monday said the breakaway faction is trying to “rectify” the party, and would fight for the control of its election symbol, even as the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit termed the move illegal under the anti-defection law.

The NCPI is a Tripura-based registered unrecognised party that does not enjoy any significant political presence.

It contested three seats in the 2023 Tripura polls, with its candidates finishing either behind NOTA or securing only a few votes more.