New Delhi

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Jagadish Barma Basunia has announced that a group of dissident party lawmakers will meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on June 15 to seek official recognition as the "real TMC" in Parliament.

Speaking to ANI, Basunia said the rebel faction would also request a separate seating arrangement in the Lok Sabha. According to him, the group enjoys the support of a majority of the party's MPs and therefore deserves independent recognition within the House.

He stated that the delegation would urge the Speaker to acknowledge their claim and take necessary action rather than continue the existing seating arrangement with members aligned to the party leadership.

When asked whether party chief Mamata Banerjee had contacted any of the rebel MPs, Basunia said he had not received any communication. He added that, to his knowledge, there had been no outreach from the party leadership to the dissident camp.

The developments come amid growing unrest within the All India Trinamool Congress following its defeat in the recent Assembly elections. The political turbulence has affected both the party's state unit and its parliamentary wing. While a sizeable group of legislators has broken ranks in the West Bengal Assembly, the divisions have also widened among TMC parliamentarians. Three party MPs have already resigned from the Rajya Sabha, while the rebel faction in the Lok Sabha claims the backing of 20 MPs.

Sources indicated that on May 18, nineteen dissident MPs, including senior leaders Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Satabdi Roy, submitted their names to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office. The list reportedly includes Bapi Haldar, Dr Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Bandyopadhyay, Jagadish Barma Basunia, Asit Kumar Mal, Arup Chakraborty, Rachna Banerjee, Saayoni Ghosh, Khalilur Rahaman, Abu Taher Khan, Yusuf Pathan, Mitali Bag, Mala Roy, Kalipada Soren, Deepak Adhikari, June Malia and Partha Bhowmick, among others.

Earlier, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that the group of 20 MPs had formally requested separate seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha, a move widely seen as confirmation of a split within the party's parliamentary ranks.

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Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Vardhan Shringla remarked that the Trinamool Congress appeared to be undergoing an internal collapse. He argued that the party's political setbacks, coupled with allegations of irregularities and governance failures, had prompted many members to distance themselves from the organisation. Shringla further claimed that several leaders now view the BJP as a viable alternative capable of delivering development, stronger governance and improved security in West Bengal.