LiveUpdated on: Jun 17, 2026 8:47:26 AM ISTTMC news LIVE updates: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will likely be meeting Team Mamata Banerjee before approving the 20 TMC rebels' proposal to “merge” with the Tripura-based party NCPI and be part of the NDA.File: Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee along with TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at a press conferenceTMC news LIVE updates: Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is facing the challenge of stopping one of the biggest defections in Parliament in recent years — with at least 20 Lok Sabha MPs from her Trinamool Congress on Sunday writing to Lok Sabha Speaker, proposing to join the little-known NCPI, bolstering the BJP-led NDA.Formal approval for the merger of the rebel TMC faction, comprising 20 MPs and led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) could be delayed after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla decided to hear the TMC leadership before taking a final call. The Lok Sabha Secretariat wrote to Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC's floor leader in the Lok Sabha, on Monday regarding a meeting after he appealed to the Speaker not to recognise any faction of the party. The letter proposed a meeting at 4 pm on Monday, but Abhishek Banerjee was then being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate. The Speaker is now expected to meet him later this week. If the merger goes through, the NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha will rise from 294 to 314 seats, still 46 short of the two-thirds majority mark. In the Rajya Sabha, the ruling alliance could reach 155 seats, just eight short of the two-thirds threshold. ...Read MoreFormal approval for the merger of the rebel TMC faction, comprising 20 MPs and led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) could be delayed after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla decided to hear the TMC leadership before taking a final call. The Lok Sabha Secretariat wrote to Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC's floor leader in the Lok Sabha, on Monday regarding a meeting after he appealed to the Speaker not to recognise any faction of the party. The letter proposed a meeting at 4 pm on Monday, but Abhishek Banerjee was then being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate. The Speaker is now expected to meet him later this week. If the merger goes through, the NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha will rise from 294 to 314 seats, still 46 short of the two-thirds majority mark. In the Rajya Sabha, the ruling alliance could reach 155 seats, just eight short of the two-thirds threshold. Follow all the updates here:Jun 17, 2026 8:43:25 AM ISTTMC news LIVE updates: Confusion shrouded the proposed merger between rebel Trinamool Congress MPs and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), with some leaders of the little-known party saying on Tuesday that they were yet to receive any communication from the lawmakers, even as the dissidents named a new president of the Howrah-based outfit.TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who is leading the rebel faction, told the media that Jyotiprakash Chatterjee is the new president of NCPI. Speaking to HT, however, NCPI leaders said that they were still in the dark about the merger negotiations and Chatterjee being appointed the new president. Read full report hereJun 17, 2026 8:41:03 AM ISTAt least 20 rebel lawmakers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday told speaker Om Birla that they have merged with a little-known Tripura-based party, strengthening the National Democratic Alliance and setting the stage for one of the biggest defections in India’s parliamentary history.At least 20 lawmakers of the TMC met Birla on Sunday and submitted a letter that said the rebel group had merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India or NCPI, which was formed in 2022 and fought its last election in 2023.The party currently doesn’t have a lawmaker anywhere in the country. According to a Lok Sabha functionary, Birla will now verify the signatures of 20 MPs before approving the merger.“We, 20 MPs, have now merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party and will work with the NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” said rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who resigned from party posts late last momth, after the meeting with Birla.The meeting of the rebels with Birla came hours after lawmakers Sagarika Ghose and Kirti Azad, both loyalists of party chief Mamata Banerjee, met Birla and handed over a letter from the TMC’s Lok Sabha floor leader Abhishek Banerjee. The letter said that “split is no longer available under the Tenth Schedule” and TMC is “a single, indivisible political party”. Read full HT report hereJun 17, 2026 8:37:36 AM ISTTMC news LIVE updates: Formal approval for the merger of the rebel TMC faction, comprising 20 MPs and led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) could be delayed after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla decided to hear the TMC leadership before taking a final call.The Lok Sabha Secretariat wrote to Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC's floor leader in the Lok Sabha, on Monday regarding a meeting after he appealed to the Speaker not to recognise any faction of the party. The letter proposed a meeting at 4 pm on Monday, but Abhishek Banerjee was then being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate. The Speaker is now expected to meet him later this week.If the merger goes through, the NDA's strength in the Lok Sabha will rise from 294 to 314 seats, still 46 short of the two-thirds majority mark. In the Rajya Sabha, the ruling alliance could reach 155 seats, just eight short of the two-thirds threshold.Home India news TMC news LIVE: LS Speaker approval to one of Parliament's biggest defections delayed; Om Birla to meet Team Mamata