NEW DELHI: In a significant decision ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, while also allowing 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs to sit separately in the Lok Sabha, even as their plea for formal recognition as members of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) remains pending.
The decision, taken just two days before Parliament session, is expected to reshape the Opposition’s floor strength and seating arrangement in the House.
Official sources said the approval of the merger has increased the strength of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha from seven to 13 MPs. The Speaker accepted the claim of the six MPs that they had merged with the recognised Shiv Sena headed by Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde after examining constitutional provisions, parliamentary precedents and legal opinion.
For the TMC rebels, seats have been allotted away from the Mamata Banerjee-led bloc, though their bid for NCPI status is still under examination.
The rebels are expected to attend Sunday’s all-party meeting as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju wrote to Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar inviting them, while Bandyopadhyay separately called on PM Narendra Modi at his residence on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Speaker is also expected to approve a request from the DMK for separate seating arrangements after the Congress ended its long standing alliance with it and aligned with Chief Minister Vijay’s TVK in Tamil Nadu.
The Speaker’s decisions come despite both the TMC and Shiv Sena (UBT) pressing for the immediate disqualification of the rebel MPs under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Earlier, the Speaker held separate meetings with delegations from the parent parties as well as the dissident groups before arriving at the decisions.