Senior Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay met Union Minister Bhupender Yadav and BJP leaders in Delhi on Saturday, as the party's rebel MPs prepare to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking recognition as the "real TMC" parliamentary group.
Bandyopadhyay was accompanied by rebel MP Satabdi Roy, although details of the meeting were not immediately available. A group of dissident MPs had held a meeting at Yadav's residence earlier on Monday as well.
The developments come amid a deepening split within the Mamata Banerjee-led party. Rebel MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia has claimed that 19 TMC Lok Sabha members are backing the dissident camp.
If Bandyopadhyay were to join them, their strength in the House would rise to 20 MPs. A source in the rebel camp said that they want Bandyopadhyay as their leader in the Lok Sabha.
The party has 28 members in the Lok Sabha and 13 in Rajya Sabha, of whom three have resigned so far.
Notably, the Mamata Banerjee-led party has been rocked by a rebellion following its defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections.
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.
A purported list containing the names and signatures of 19 TMC Lok Sabha MPs has been circulated online, although the alleged letter sent to the Speaker has not been made public. Dissident leaders say the document reflects support for their effort to seek recognition.
The list reportedly includes 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.
Meanwhile, TMC leaders have accused the BJP of carrying out "Operation Lotus" aimed at engineering defections in the party.
They have also hit out at the rebel leaders of "lacking political morality", maintaining links with the BJP and abandoning party workers at a time when they were allegedly facing harassment and political attacks.
(With inputs from PTI)