Neither here nor there: BJP snub deepens TMC rebel MPs’ predicament

The political future of the 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs who joined the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) is mired in uncertainty, nearly three months after they aligned themselves with the BJP-led NDA.

Their overture for an alliance with the BJP for the upcoming civic polls in West Bengal was snubbed on Wednesday (September 2), while their parliamentary status remains under legal and procedural scrutiny.

BJP snub

Rejecting the NCPI feelers for an alliance, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya told the media that his party would contest the Kolkata and Howrah civic polls independently.

“BJP workers and the Bengal BJP as an organisation are capable of contesting the Kolkata and Howrah municipal elections on their own and winning control of the two corporations,” Bhattacharya said.

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Bhattacharya’s assertion has come as a setback to the NCPI leadership, which has been keen to establish the party as an ally of the ruling party in Bengal.

NCPI leaders tight-lipped

NCPI leaders, however, have largely maintained silence since his statement and remained tight-lipped about the party’s future. Most leaders The Federal contacted refused to comment on their future strategy, preferring to wait for further developments.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, however, issued a brief response. She argued that the BJP and the NCPI were fighting the same political adversary and would be stronger if they fought together.

“I believe it would be much more fruitful if we fought together. If we do it together, the combined result would be much better,” she said.

Civic poll test

The issue is significant not only for the BJP but also for the TMC’s breakaway factions, particularly the NCPI.

The civic polls will be the first major electoral test for the 20 MPs since their break with the TMC. The elections are expected after Durga Puja, with the state government aiming to have elected civic boards in place by December 7.

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For the NCPI, the polls will also offer an early test of whether its MPs can translate their parliamentary positions into electoral support on the ground.

Out of Mamata’s shield

Many of the MPs came to politics without an established mass base and won their Lok Sabha seats largely on the strength of Mamata Banerjee and the TMC organisation, their critics argue.

The elections will, therefore, be important for the NCPI MPs, particularly those from poll-bound Kolkata and Howrah, as they will now have to demonstrate their ability to mobilise voters and build a political base of their own.

The NCPI has little organisational presence in Bengal beyond the political weight of its 20 MPs. An alliance with the BJP would have given the group an electoral platform and access to the BJP’s organisation in Kolkata and Howrah.

The BJP, however, appears keen to use the civic elections to strengthen its own organisation.

BJP’s reason for distance

Political commentator and columnist Debasish Chakrabarty said the party wanted the rebels’ support in parliament but was reluctant to embrace them politically in Bengal.

“BJP wants the support of the MPs in parliament to shore up its numbers to get crucial bills passed, but at the same time it does not want to be seen to be pally-pally with them,” Chakrabarty said.

Also read: Durga Puja becomes new battleground for BJP factions in Bengal

He said the BJP had an organisational reason to keep its distance. Giving former TMC leaders electoral space could come at the expense of BJP leaders and functionaries who had built the party’s organisation in Bengal.

There was also a political cost, he said. An open alliance with former TMC leaders could dilute the BJP’s claim that it had fought the TMC over corruption, nepotism and alleged syndicate politics.

Rebels within rebels

The NCPI’s claim of being part of the NDA has also exposed differences within the fledgling party. Three of its MPs from Muslim-dominated constituencies in Murshidabad—Abu Taher Khan (Murshidabad), Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur), and Khalilur Rahaman (Jangipur)—have refused to join or support the BJP-led alliance.

They have stayed away from NDA meetings and repeatedly said they would not join the BJP or become part of the NDA. “We have already made it clear that we will not go with the BJP and will not be part of the NDA,” said Khan.

The three MPs have nevertheless maintained working relationships with the BJP government on constituency matters. One of them told The Federal that they were not opposed to working with the government for development but did not want to be identified politically with the BJP.

“The division complicates the NCPI’s claim that its 20 MPs have moved as a unified bloc. It could also become important if the group continues to argue that its parliamentary strength provides protection under the anti-defection law,” said Chakrabarty.

No formal recognition

The MPs have publicly maintained that they have left the TMC and joined the NCPI, but Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has not formally recognised them as a separate NCPI parliamentary group.

That issue has become more important because the TMC has sought their disqualification. Party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee filed petitions against the 20 MPs after they announced their switch to the NCPI.

Also read: Supreme Court issues notices to 20 rebel TMC MPs in disqualification plea

The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Thursday (September 3) granted the 20 MPs another 21 days to respond to the disqualification notices issued against them, giving them time until September 22 to file their replies.

Mathurapur MP Bapi Haldar told The Federal that the MPs had sought 21 days after the original seven-day deadline expired on September 1. “We had sought 21 days. The Lok Sabha secretariat has accepted our request,” he said.

The Secretariat had served the notices on August 26 on the basis of Abhishek’s petitions. Instead of responding within the stipulated seven days, the MPs sought additional time. Haldar, however, declined to comment on their participation in the municipal elections or other aspects of their future strategy.

Deepening predicament

Another NCPI MP, Kalipada Soren, said the party leadership would take the “appropriate call at the appropriate time”.

Some MPs, however, privately acknowledge their uncertainty. “Where is NCPI at this juncture? Have we got recognition as NCPI MPs? Then where is the question of putting up candidates in the NCPI banner in the municipal elections?” one MP said, adding that their predicament had deepened with the dispute now before the Supreme Court.

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On August 25, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant issued notices to the 20 MPs while hearing a petition by Abhishek Banerjee seeking an expeditious decision on the disqualification petitions.

Eyes on Ritabrata camp

To break the impasse over their political future, NCPI sources said the party is keeping a close watch on another political development in Bengal. They said the party expects the TMC’s name and election symbol to eventually pass on to another rebel faction of the Trinamool led by Ritabrata Banerjee.

The Ritabrata camp has approached the Election Commission claiming to represent the real TMC. The EC is yet to decide the claim.

NCPI sources said the ECI’s recognition of Ritabrata’s faction as the “real” TMC would establish that the TMC has effectively undergone a split, while their 20-member bloc had already crossed the two-thirds threshold and merged with the Tripura-based party.

But that proposition would still have to survive the Speaker’s examination under the Tenth Schedule and potentially judicial review, pointed out veteran journalist Amal Sarkar.

A possible alternative

NCPI sources see the Ritabrata camp as a possible political alternative. If it secures the TMC name and symbol, some NCPI MPs could consider joining it, particularly as the faction claims to be the principal opposition to the BJP in Bengal and, unlike the NCPI, has not sought to directly align with the ruling party.

Also read: Bengal BJP faces heat as charges of cut money, factional feud echo TMC-era practices

That position of the Ritabrata camp gives the NCPI an option, keeping in mind the discomfort among its minority MPs over directly joining the NDA fold.

For now, however, the 20 MPs remain caught between competing possibilities. The BJP is unwilling to give them political space in the civic polls, the Speaker has not settled their parliamentary identity, and the apex court is monitoring the disqualification dispute.