Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to take a call on the defection cases involving rebel MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena (UBT) before the Monsoon Session of Parliament, likely to commence in the third week of July, sources said.
The Speaker has already met delegations from both the parent parties and their breakaway groups. A TMC delegation led by Abhishek Banerjee, along with representatives of the rebel faction, presented their respective cases before Birla. Similar consultations were held in connection with the Shiv Sena (UBT) split.
Sources said legal and constitutional experts attached to Parliament are examining the matter, while past precedents involving anti-defection cases are also being reviewed to ensure legally sound decisions.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat is meanwhile assessing possible seating arrangements for the upcoming session. Apart from the rebel factions of the TMC and Shiv Sena (UBT), the DMK has also sought separate seating from the Congress following the latter's decision to end its long-standing alliance with the Tamil Nadu party and align with Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay's TVK.
The TMC won 29 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general election. Of these, 20 MPs subsequently joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a registered but unrecognised party based in Howrah, West Bengal, and sought separate seating in the House. The rebel group has also expressed support for the Narendra Modi-led government and indicated its desire to join the NDA. One TMC seat is currently vacant following the death of an MP.
In Maharashtra, six of the nine MPs elected on Shiv Sena (UBT) tickets have crossed over to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Both TMC and Shiv Sena (UBT) have urged the Speaker to disqualify the rebel MPs under the anti-defection law, arguing that protection from disqualification applies only when two-thirds of an entire political party merges with another party.
During his meeting with Birla, TMC general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee contended that the rebels' claim of having merged with the NCPI was not legally tenable. He maintained that under the law, two-thirds of the entire party must merge with another party, not merely a group of legislators. Banerjee also submitted 20 separate petitions seeking the disqualification of the rebel MPs.
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Anil Desai and Arvind Sawant met Birla and requested that he share any submissions made by the six rebel MPs who have joined the Shinde faction.
After the meeting, the two leaders told reporters that they had urged the Speaker to "uphold the provisions of the Constitution" and sought copies of any representations made by the rebels.
"We asked him if he had received any appeal from the rebels...," Sawant said, adding that the Speaker informed them that nothing had been received in writing from the rebel MPs.
Desai said the party had emphasised that the Tenth Schedule was unambiguous. "Any group of a legislature party cannot merge into some other party on its own, even if they have a two-thirds majority".
(With inputs from PTI)
