20 rebel Trinamool MPs get 15 more days to reply to disqualification pleas
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee submitted petitions to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in June seeking action against the 20 MPs under the anti-defection law.
Last UpdatedSep 25, 2026 20:19 IST 
Published byThe Lok Sabha Secretariat has given 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs another 15 days to respond to petitions seeking their disqualification. Their replies are now due by October 8, though they had sought a 30-day extension until October 22.
The MPs, who announced that they were joining the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and supporting the BJP-led NDA, said they needed more time to gather documents for their replies.
NCPI parliamentary chairperson Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar had earlier said the group was granted three weeks after receiving notices from the Secretariat in August.
Mamata faction MP Abhishek Banerjee submitted petitions to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in June seeking action against the 20 MPs under the anti-defection law.
The Mamata faction of the Trinamool argues that the MPs gave up their party membership by aligning with the NCPI and that their claimed merger cannot shield them from disqualification. The rebel MPs have sought recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
The question of their status in the Lok Sabha remains unresolved. The rebels had been allotted separate seats, even as parliamentary records continued to list them as TMC members. Banerjee has objected to the delay in deciding the disqualification petitions.
The dispute is also before the Supreme Court. On August 25, it issued notices to the 20 MPs on Banerjee’s plea seeking a prompt decision by the Speaker. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he would appear on behalf of the Speaker and the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The court did not issue a formal notice to Birla at that hearing.
Aishwarya Paliwal has been a journalist for the past 7 years, currently working with India Today covering Finance Ministry and the Election Commission.
She has worked in Mumbai for 6 years, where she was coevring Maharashtra government, the Enforcemeent Directorate and Income Tax. Her forte now is - finance ministry, businesses, corporates and election commission along with doing impactful stories (stories from Punjab on farm burning, understanding the issues from Amritsar to Patiala,in depth stories on working on Election Commission, first election in independent India held during a pandemic).
On ground reporting - nothing gives a journalist more satisfaction than getting real stories from the people. She has covered Delhi riots when buildings were burning vehicles were torched, pollution in Delhi-NCR, farmer protest when farmers had surrounded the national capital,Anti-CAA protests.
Stories on data intelligence, word counts have also been done by her.
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