A group of 20 Trinamool Congress MPs, led by party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday, declaring their support for the ruling National Democratic Alliance, PTI reported.

The Mamata Banerjee-led party has 28 MPs in the Lower House of Parliament. Although the TMC had won 29 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the MP from Basirhat has since died and a bye-poll is yet to be held.

The development comes amid turmoil within the TMC at the state level and in the Rajya Sabha.

On Wednesday, 58 of the 80 MLAs of the TMC rebelled against the party and elected now-expelled party leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the Opposition.

The stand taken by the 58 MLAs is being viewed as a challenge to former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is supporting Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Opposition leader in the Assembly.

On Monday, the 20 MPs wrote to Birla after holding a meeting at the home of Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal observer Bhupendra Yadav in New Delhi, The Hindu reported.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was also present during the meeting, The Indian Express reported.

Those part of the breakaway faction include Howrah MP Prasun Banerjee, Bankura MP Anup Chakraborty, Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Bolpur Lok Sabha MP Asit Kumar Mal, Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy, Jhargram MP Kalipada Soren and Bardhaman Purba MP Sharmila Sarkar, the newspaper reported.

Sarkar told The Indian Express that the MPs “want to sit separately”.

“I respect Didi,” the MP was quoted as saying. “I wanted to work, but I could not.”

She said that the new bloc “will help in the development of Bengal”, adding that “we need to support [the] NDA for Bengal’s development”.

The defections come after the BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule in the state.

TMC moves High Court

Meanwhile, the TMC moved the Calcutta High Court on Monday, challenging Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose’s decision to recognise Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the Opposition in the state, Live Law reported.

The petition sought a judicial review of Bose’s decision, arguing that it goes against established parliamentary norms, the legal news outlet reported.

A bench of Justice Krishna Rao will hear the plea on Thursday.

The future of the Trinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha contingent also remains uncertain, with MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigning earlier on Monday. The party currently has 13 members in the Rajya Sabha.

On Wednesday, the TMC dissolved all its committees and organisational units in the state, saying it would undertake a “comprehensive” review of its performance and party structure.

Edited by Sneha.