Unrecognised NCPI at all-party meet sparks symbolic Opposition walkout

A day before Parliament's monsoon session begins, Opposition parties staged a symbolic walkout from the customary all-party meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, 19 July, protesting the government's decision to invite representatives of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), formed by 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs whose status remains under consideration by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

The walkout lasted only a few minutes before the leaders returned to the meeting, but it underscored the political tensions expected to dominate the session beginning on Monday.

The controversy centres on 20 Lok Sabha MPs, including Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Satabdi Roy, who left the TMC after the party's heavy defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election and joined the NCPI. The TMC has petitioned the Speaker to disqualify them under the anti-defection law, while the rebels are seeking recognition as members of their new party.

Despite the matter remaining unresolved, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju invited NCPI representatives to Sunday's all-party meeting. Defending the move, Rijiju said: "Twenty Lok Sabha MPs from the NCPI faction have submitted a signed petition to the Speaker requesting to join a new party and seeking separate seating arrangements in Parliament. When the issue is before the Speaker and involves 20 MPs, how can we exclude them? The Lok Sabha belongs to everyone. It is the government's duty to consult with all parties."

The Speaker has approved separate seating arrangements for the rebel MPs, though no final decision has been taken on recognising them as an independent parliamentary group. The Opposition argues that inviting them to the meeting effectively lends legitimacy to a party whose parliamentary status has yet to be decided.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, "Today, the entire Opposition — including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, JMM, Aam Aadmi Party, National Conference, Left parties and Shiv Sena (UBT) — walked out of the all-party meeting in protest."

Questioning the government's decision, she added, "The Speaker has not approved the defection or merger of these 20 'rebel' MPs, and petitions seeking their disqualification remain pending. Following the 91st Constitutional Amendment, there is no longer any scope to form a separate bloc. On what grounds did the minister of parliamentary affairs invite these 20 rebel MPs?"

Moitra also pointed out that the Lok Sabha website continues to list the TMC with 28 MPs.

Senior TMC MP Saugata Roy questioned how an unrecognised party could be invited to an official government meeting, claiming the NCPI does not appear on the Election Commission's website.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh described the protest as a united opposition stand, writing on X: "All Opposition parties staged a walkout... This was a mark of protest against the decision of the Modi Government to invite the NCPI, which is a parking place for 20 so-called 'rebel' TMC MPs when a final decision is still pending with the Speaker."

The protest was supported by the Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), DMK, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the National Conference. CPI(M) leader John Brittas described the invitation as "contrary to the principles of justice".

The Opposition also criticised Birla's decision to grant separate seating to the rebel TMC MPs, as well as his handling of the merger of rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile, Ghosh Dastidar announced that the NCPI would observe 21 July as Martyrs' Day at Rajghat in Delhi, mirroring the annual event traditionally organised by Mamata Banerjee's TMC in West Bengal and underscoring the growing split within the party.