Till a couple of days back, not many in India had heard about the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and now, NCPI is one of the biggest parties in the Lok Sabha. Such are the strange and unpredictable ways of politics.
20 rebel MPs of Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced their merger with NCPI on Sunday, June 14. They also announced their support for ruling NDA in the Parliament, making the fringe regional party the biggest ally of BJP in the Lok Sabha. This development has angered Mamata Banerjee’s party TMC who have argued that such a merger of its Party MPs with another party is invalid.
The Nationalist Citizens Party of India was founded by former Tripura minister and tribal leader Paban Kumar Das, and was registered ahead of the previous Tripura elections. The party stated that its aim is to represent deprived tribal communities in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council region.
NCPI candidates contested in only two constituencies on the party symbol during the Tripura elections. Together, their two candidates got just 822 votes, losing their deposit on both seats.
The party also has a registered office in Bengal, located in Banipur area of Howrah district. The NCPI doesn’t have any elected member anywhere in the country, but now suddenly it is at the centre of Indian politics.
The merger of rebel TMC MPs with the NCPI is being viewed as a significant political blow for the Trinamool Congress. For years, the TMC maintained a reputation for strong organizational discipline under the leadership of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. However, the loss in Bengal Assembly elections has exposed that the image was just a facade and there was deep dissatisfaction within the party.
First there was rebellion in assembly when TMC MLAs elected expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition, ignoring Mamata Banerjee’s choice. Then 3 Rajya Sabha MPs of the party resigned, reducing TMC’s strength in the Upper House from 13 to 10, and now 20 Lok Sabha MPs have joined NCPI. The blows for TMC just keep coming after they lost power in West Bengal after 15 years.
Several of the MPs joining the NCPI have publicly accused the TMC leadership of ignoring grassroots workers and sidelining experienced leaders. They claim that decision-making has become concentrated among a handful of individuals, leading to frustration among elected representatives and party cadres alike.
