Lok Sabha’s 7-day deadline for TMC rebels to reply to disqualification push

The Lok Sabha secretariat has sent notices to 20 Trinamool Congress lawmakers who have defected from the party, demanding their response within seven days to disqualification petitions filed by TMC floor leader Abhishek Banerjee. This move follows the Supreme Court's request for the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, to expedite a decision on the disqualification petitions.

Banerjee claims that the 20 lawmakers have joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The notices are the first step in determining disqualification, though the process is lengthy. In June, Banerjee filed separate petitions against the 20 lawmakers under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which outlines disqualification provisions.

While Birla has not yet approved the merger, the TMC has retained their membership. The Tenth Schedule stipulates that disqualification proceedings should be finalized by the Speaker or Chairman. The rebel MPs named in the petitions include Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and others. They argue that more than two-thirds of the TMC's Lok Sabha MPs support them.