Archive · 9 Oct 2026
Several Rebel Trinamool MPs Skip Sudip Bandyopadhyay's Legal Strategy Lunch
A group of 20 MPs who have left the Trinamool Congress met in Kolkata on Thursday.
Their group calls itself the NDA-aligned NCPI.
Sudip Bandyopadhyay invited them to discuss a legal challenge over whether they should lose their seats under the anti-defection law.
Ten MPs did not attend, including some well-known members.
One MP said people had personal or travel-related reasons for missing the lunch.
Another said there was no problem among the MPs.
The group was facing a deadline to explain its position to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
It decided to ask for two more weeks to reply.
Sudip Bandyopadhyay convened a lunch meeting in south Kolkata on Thursday for members of the breakaway camp calling itself the NDA-aligned NCPI.
Ten of the 20 MPs reportedly missed the meeting, including Dev Adhikari and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar.
The meeting was intended to coordinate the faction’s legal response before a deadline set by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The MPs decided to ask for another two weeks to respond to the anti-defection proceedings.
Arup Chakraborty cited personal and logistical reasons for absences, while Sharmila Sarkar said there was “no problem whatsoever.”
- Who
- Sudip Bandyopadhyay and members of the 20-MP breakaway camp calling itself the NDA-aligned NCPI; ten MPs reportedly did not attend.
- What
- A lunch meeting was held to discuss the group’s legal response in an anti-defection case.
- When
- Thursday; the group decided to seek a further two-week extension.
- Where
- A hotel on AJC Bose Road in south Kolkata.
- Why
- The MPs were preparing to respond to proceedings seeking their disqualification under the anti-defection law.
- Breakaway camp size
- 20 MPs
- Reported absences
- 10 MPs
- Meeting convenor
- Sudip Bandyopadhyay
- Deadline authority
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
- Extension sought
- A further two weeks
- Reported meeting location
- A south Kolkata hotel on AJC Bose Road
- Disqualification petitions
- Filed before the Speaker by Abhishek Banerjee; a related writ petition was taken to the Supreme Court.