India, June 16 -- The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) had just Rs 75 left in cash as its closing balance at the end of the financial year 2022-23. The figure appears in the annual auditor's report submitted by the party to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for 2022-23, offering a snapshot of a little-known outfit that has now unexpectedly entered the national political conversation after a group of 20 dissident Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MPs announced their merger with the party on Sunday.

The Tripura-based NCPI is an obscure party which does not hold a single elected representative or seat anywhere in India.

The NCPI registered itself as a political party in January 2023, with a building in Sankarail in West Ben...