Congress on Monday alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah masterminded the illegal breakaway of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who merged with Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also alleged that decency, decorum and devotion to constitutional values and principles remain vulnerable and threatened every day Shah continues in office and the 'bizarre move' is part of his strategy to engineer a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the Lok Sabha.
"A desperate Union home minister -- who is an absolute disgrace to the position once held by Sardar Patel -- has taken Indian democracy to new lows in a shameless manner," Ramesh said in a post on X.
"He has masterminded the illegal breakaway of 20 TMC MPs and their wholly questionable fusion with an unheard of and reportedly registered but unrecognised political outfit formed just three years back," the Congress general secretary (communications) added.
The NCPI could well end up becoming the second-largest constituent in the NDA, ahead of even the long-established and long-experienced Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United), who should actually be protesting their "downgrade" through such "underhand tactics" and in such a "disgusting" manner, Ramesh said.
"This bizarre move is part of the Union home minister's strategy to engineer a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the Lok Sabha. Decency, decorum and devotion to constitutional values and principles remain vulnerable and threatened every day he continues in office," the Congress leader said.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also slammed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the issue.
The BJP's insatiable appetite for engineering defections has now reached a point where MPs are being herded into parties that the public has scarcely heard of, he said.
"A handful of opportunists cannot manufacture a popular mandate through backroom deals and political brokerage. The anti-defection law was meant to protect democracy, not provide creative routes for its circumvention," Singhvi said on X.
The 20 rebel TMC MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday and announced their merger with the NCPI, a Tripura-based registered unrecognised political party.
Rebel TMC MP Arup Chakraborty on Monday said the breakaway faction is trying to "rectify" the party and would fight for the control of its election symbol, even as the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit termed the move illegal under the anti-defection law.
The NCPI is a Tripura-based registered unrecognised party that does not enjoy any significant political presence.
It contested three seats in the 2023 Tripura Assembly polls, with its candidates finishing either behind NOTA or securing only a few votes more.
(With inputs from PTI)
