Kolkata, Sept. 3 -- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has given 20 ex-TMC MPs until September 22 to respond to disqualification notices issued under the anti-defection law. The MPs had sought more time to reply to the August 26 notice.
The notices followed separate petitions by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee seeking their disqualification after they left the party in June following its defeat in the state Assembly polls. The MPs subsequently joined the NCPI and declared support for the BJP-led NDA.
The matter is also before the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear Banerjee's plea seeking an early decision by the Speaker and directed that the proceedings be handled expeditiously.
The additional time could allow the MPs to build their defence, particularly over whether anti-defection provisions apply to their switch from the TMC to the NCPI and their subsequent NDA alignment.
The proceedings come amid a wider political realignment in Bengal, with 65 of the TMC's 80 MLAs backing Ritabrata Banerjee for Leader of the Opposition, dealing another blow to the Mamata
Banerjee camp.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.