Kolkata/New Delhi: After the historic rebellion in Trinamool Congress (TMC), the internal disputes of the party have now reached the court’s doorstep. 20 rebel MPs who have separated from TMC are now preparing to take legal action against their former ally and firebrand leader Mahua Moitra. According to sources, these rebel MPs have held an important meeting, in which it has been decided to file a defamation case against Mahua Moitra. The rebel MPs say that Mahua Moitra has made a completely false and extremely insulting allegation against them of being sold out, due to which their image has been tarnished.
In fact, this entire controversy began when Mahua Moitra made a very serious and scathing claim on social media regarding the MPs who had switched sides. She alleged that all 20 MPs who had left the TMC had been given a hefty bribe of ₹40 crore each to defect. Mahua claimed that these MPs had been given ₹4 crore in advance (cash), and the remaining ₹36 crore would be paid in monthly installments of ₹1 crore each over the next 36 months.
Mahua’s scathing statement came after Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut claimed he had received an offer of ₹15 crore to break Maharashtra’s MPs. Taking a dig at this, Mahua Moitra wrote on social media on June 17, “Only ₹15 crore? Why are you going so cheap? Believe me, our people have received ₹4 crore in advance and will receive ₹1 crore every month for the next 36 months… money along with honey.”
This legal and political turmoil has emerged after the TMC suffered the biggest setback in its parliamentary history. Led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the party’s former Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, 20 of the TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have raised the banner of revolt. These rebel MPs submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, announcing their separation from Mamata Banerjee’s party and support for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Following this rebellion, all 20 MPs adopted a well-planned strategy to save their parliamentary membership and avoid disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law. To avoid legal disqualification, these MPs joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a registered but small party from Tripura, and technically merged with it. Although this faction has not directly joined the BJP, it has pledged its support to the NDA government at the Centre. Due to this unprecedented split, the TMC’s strength in the Lok Sabha has been reduced to just 8 MPs, which is considered to be the biggest political loss for Mamata Banerjee since the party’s formation in 1998.
