'Mistrial justice': Opposition stages symbolic walkout from all-party meeting over invitation of 20 rebel TMC MPs

The opposition boycotted the all-party meeting after the government invited 20 rebel TMC MPs to a meeting on Sunday, July 19 ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament. They said the move was against norms and the merger of rebel TMC MPs into the “so-called NCPI” was not approved by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

The opposition leaders, who staged a walkout from the all-party meeting, later rejoined the meeting, calling their walkout a symbolic protest, news agency ANI reported.

“Today the entire opposition including Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, JMM, Aam Aadmi Party, National Conference, Left parties, Shiv Sena UBT all walked out of the all party meeting in protest because the so called NCPI which is an unrecognized party, the powerhouse of the All India Trinamool Congress in the list provided by the dining office was shown that their merger was not approved 2 These rebels00 by the speaker,” the leader said TMC Mahua Moitra.

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“The 20 disqualification petitions are still pending. There is no scope for a separate block after the 91st amendment,” Moitra said, asking, “…on what basis did the Parliamentary Affairs Minister invite these 20 rebel MPs and how are they attending this meeting?”

“We registered our strong protest and walked out as a symbol of our protest. And we thank all our opposition parties,” the TMC leader added.

“judicial error”

According to PTI, CPM leader John Brittas called the invitation of rebel TMC MPs to the all-party meeting a “miscarriage of justice”.

Meanwhile, the Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X: “All opposition parties walked out of the All-Party meeting for a few minutes. This was a sign of protest against the Modi government’s decision to invite the NCPI, which is a parking space for 20 so-called ‘rebel’ TMC MPs, when the final decision is still pending with the Speaker.”

TMC rebels: “Speaker accepted us”

One of the TMC rebels, Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, said, “Our 20 MPs have joined hands with the NCPI. The Speaker has accepted us and will arrange for us to be allotted separate seats.”

Another rebel, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, said: “We were invited and attended – representing a new party with 20 MPs.”

Bandyopadhyay explained the stand of the rebel leaders: “Our stand is that the House belongs to the opposition; that must be acknowledged.”

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“The government must also agree and take the initiative to ensure the smooth functioning of the House,” he said, adding, “…we are committed to the principles of our party: secularism, community harmony and national unity.”

“These are firm principles enshrined in the NCPI constitution. We believe this is important because out of the 20 MPs who formed the NCPI, three are Muslims…,” Bandyopadhyay said.

Sources told PTI that the rebel TMC group of 20 MPs will sit separately, outside the parent party. No final decision has been taken on the rebel TMC MLAs’ demand to be recognized as part of the NCPI and the matter is still under consideration, they said.

On the Shiv Sena merger

The protest was also supported by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant, who questioned the recognition given to the rebel MPs.

Reacting to the Lok Sabha Speaker approving the merger of six MPs from Shiv Sena (UBT) with Shiv Sena (Shinde), Sawant said, “The speaker mentioned that the term ‘affiliation’ is given to six MPs; where is this term in the laws? We protested and walked out of the session.”

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“There is no provision in the constitution, there is no provision in list 10 to recognize six members who have defected from the party… It is illegal and that is why we have protested against it,” Arvind told ANI.

Six Shiv Sena (UBT) has ‘merged’ with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament.

Kiren Rijiju’s message to the opposition

Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins on July 20, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju called on the opposition for smooth proceedings, reminding opposition leaders “that running Parliament has been quite difficult in the past due to constant disruptions”.

He said: “There is no purpose in creating a fuss and the public will not appreciate it. The citizens of this country want parliament to run smoothly, we all want the same.”

“It has been proven time and again that there is no political gain in disrupting Parliament. I again call on all party leaders to contribute to the smooth running of the House,” Rijiju said.

The minister added: “We are prepared to listen to the opposition and we expect them to listen to us. Disrupting the House wastes everyone’s time and drains taxpayers’ money.”

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“The government is all set to introduce several important bills and legislative matters in this session. We seek everyone’s cooperation. Even if you want to oppose something, do it through debate and dialogue, not by creating a ruckus. We will give our full cooperation and expect the same from the opposition,” Rijiju said.

The minister added that the government welcomes vigorous and strong debates. “We live in a parliamentary democracy where elected representatives of the people are given the opportunity to raise their points in the House,” he said.