The breakaway faction of Trinamool Congress MPs says it will ask Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to recognise it as the "real TMC", deepening a split within one of the counrty's largest opposition parties.
Rebel TMC MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia said the group, which claims the backing of 19 Lok Sabha members, will meet the Speaker on Monday to press its case.
Basunia, the MP from Cooch Behar and among the lawmakers seeking to support the NDA in the Lok Sabha, told PTI that the group would meet the Speaker on Monday.
"On Monday, we will go to the Speaker, and we have made a claim regarding forming the real TMC vote group. We will ask the Speaker to give recognition to our claim," Basunia said.
Sources said the timing of the meeting is yet to be finalised.
Basunia hit back at TMC MP Kirti Azad over his remarks that dissident MPs were being given money to shift loyalty, and said, "Kirti Azad is a liar. This is not right to say. We are 19 MPs and he is also an MP... it is not right to make such allegations".
Asked about senior Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee's remarks on Abhishek Banerjee, Basunia said, "He is saying the right thing. We support Kalyan ji's statement".
Kalyan Banerjee on Thursday launched a sharp attack on party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and declared that he would remain in the party only if Abhishek is removed from all leadership positions.
The TMC plunged into a crisis following the party's defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections and rebellion by a large section of its legislators.
Last week, more than two-thirds of the TMC's MLAs -- 58 out of 80 -- broke away from the official legislature party and secured recognition as the principal opposition bloc in the West Bengal assembly under expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee.
The rebel camp has since claimed that its strength has risen further.
The crisis later spread to Parliament, with rebel MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claiming the support of more than 20 Lok Sabha members.
Amid a churn in the party, a purported list carrying the names and signatures of 19 TMC Lok Sabha MPs was circulated online, though the purported letter to LS Speaker Om Birla was not in the public domain.
Dissident TMC leaders claimed that the document, which could not be verified independently, reflected support for their move.
Signatures on the list belonged to Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Bandyopadhyay, Jagadish Barma Basunia, Asit Kumar Mal, Arup Chakraborty, Rachna Banerjee, Saayoni Ghosh, Khalilur Rahaman, Abu Taher Khan, Yusuf Pathan, Mitali Bag, Mala Roy, Kalipada Soren, Deepak Adhikari, June Malia and Partha Bhowmick.
On Thursday, Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Chik Baraik became the third TMC parliamentarian to resign from both the party and the Upper House this week, after Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Sushmita Dev.
The crisis also exposed internal fault lines in the party.