Birla approves 6 Sena-UBT MPs' merger; rebel TMC MPs get separate seats

From Jagannathan in New Delhi : Ahead of the monsoon session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has made significant decisions, approving the merger of six Shiv Sena-UBT MPs with the Eknath Shinde faction and granting separate seating to 20 rebel TMC lawmakers.

Shiv Sena-UBT MPs join Shinde's Sena  : Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla approved the merger of six Shiv Sena-UBT MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, increasing its strength to 13.

Twenty rebel TMC MPs, who joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, have been granted separate seating arrangements in Parliament.

The Speaker's decision on recognising the rebel TMC MPs as part of NCPI is still pending, despite their request for separate seating.

Both Shiv Sena-UBT and TMC had sought the disqualification of their rebel MPs, citing the anti-defection law.
The decisions were made after consultations with legal and constitutional experts and examination of past precedents, just two days before the Monsoon session.
 
Ahead of the monsoon session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six Shiv Sena-UBT MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and allowed separate seating for the 20 rebel Trinamool Congress lawmakers, who have joined a little-known party, Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

Official sources said that with the merger of the six MPs, the strength of the Shiv Sena has gone up to 13.

The TMC rebel groups of 20 MPs will seat separately, away from the parent party, the sources said.

Decisions on Rebel MPs and Party Mergers : No final decision has been taken on the demand of the rebel TMC MPs to be recognised as part of the NCPI, and the matter is still under consideration, they said.

The TMC and the Shiv Sena-UBT had demanded the disqualification of the rebel MPs.

The rebel TMC MPs are also likely to attend Sunday's all-party meeting.

The Lok Sabha Speaker had earlier met a TMC delegation headed by its leader Abhishek Banerjee as well as the party's breakaway group. A similar exercise was also carried out with regard to the Shiv Sena- UBT.

Consultations with legal and constitutional experts of Parliament were carried out and they provided their inputs to the Speaker to help him take the final decisions, sources said.

The decisions came two days ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which will begin on July 20.

Past precedents, decisions taken by the former speakers of Lok Sabha and chairmen of Rajya Sabha in similar situations were also examined before taking the "informed and legally sound" decisions, the sources said, adding Constitutional and legal aspects were looked into.

Other Seating Requests and Anti-Defection Law Arguments : Besides the rebel groups of the TMC and the Shiv Sena-UBT, the DMK also sought a separate seating arrangement, away from the Congress, after the principal opposition party broke its decades-old alliance with the Tamil Nadu party and joined hands with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's party TVK.

This demand is also likely to be accepted by the speaker.

Altogether, 29 MPs got elected to the Lok Sabha on TMC tickets in the 2024 general election.

As many as 20 MPs broke away from the party and joined NCPI, a registered unrecognised political party headquartered in Howrah, West Bengal, and sought separate seating arrangement.

The rebel group also expressed their allegiance to the Narendra Modi government and their desire to join the ruling NDA.

One TMC MP passed away some time ago and the seat remains vacant.

In case of Shiv Sena-UBT, a total of nine MPs got elected on party tickets, of which six have joined the rival Shiv Sena, headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Both the TMC and Shiv Sena-UBT argued before the Speaker that their rebel MPs should be disqualified as the defections fall under the anti-defection law.

The two parties argued that the anti-defection law may not be applicable only if two-thirds of the entire party walk away from its fold.

TMC general secretary and its Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee demanded before Birla that the rebels should be disqualified.

He also said the claims of the rebels that they 'merged' with the NCPI were not valid, and as per the law, two-thirds of the entire party must merge with another party, not just individual legislators.

Banerjee had also submitted before the Speaker 20 separate petitions against the 20 rebels seeking their disqualification.

Shiv Sena-UBT had also met Birla and urged him to share the demands submitted to him by the six rebel MPs of the party who have now joined the Eknath Shinde-led party.

Shiv Sena-UBT MP Anil Desai had said that they conveyed to the Speaker that the Tenth Schedule is clear: "Any group of a legislature party cannot merge into some other party on its own, even if they have a two-thirds majority".

On July 14, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, leaders of the rebel TMC, met the Speaker and discussed with him seating arrangements for the party's 20 MPs in the Lower House.

They also discussed the allotment of a party office in the new Parliament building, the sources said.