TMC decries Udayan Guha arrest as political vendetta

Roy dismissed the legitimacy of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, the group with which the dissidents claim to have merged. He accused the rebel MPs of exploiting legal loopholes to evade the anti-defection law, stating that the party is a non-entity being used merely to avoid legislative consequences. The TMC leadership has vowed to contest the merger, setting the stage for a prolonged legal and political confrontation.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is reviewing the status of the twenty rebels, who have formally requested separate seating in Parliament. The Speaker has scheduled a meeting with TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for June 19 to address the crisis. Tensions surrounding the meeting remain high, particularly after a previous summons went unheeded while Banerjee was undergoing interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate. Although TMC MP Kirti Azad attempted to coordinate a new date on Banerjee’s behalf, the Speaker continues to weigh the rebels' claim that their move satisfies the two-thirds threshold required to bypass the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.