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Anti-defection law: NCPI MPs seek 4 weeks to explain, Sudip writes to Speaker
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News18•22-09-2026, 11:13
Anti-defection law: NCPI MPs seek 4 weeks to explain, Sudip writes to Speaker
- •20 Trinamool Congress MPs left their original party to merge with another, prompting a show-cause notice from the Speaker.
- •NCPI MPs have requested four weeks from the Speaker to provide an explanation regarding the anti-defection law notice.
- •Following a significant defeat in assembly elections, 20 dissenting MPs from Trinamool joined the Nationalist Party of India (NCPI), an NDA ally.
- •Under the Constitution, a 'merger' is valid if at least two-thirds of a party's elected members join another, exempting them from the anti-defection law.
- •The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notice to the 20 defecting MPs on August 26, seeking a response to a disqualification petition filed by Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee.
Key Questions Answered
The Speakers issued a 7-day show-cause notice to the 20 MPs under the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution to explain why their membership should not be cancelled after leaving the Trinamool Congress to join the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and the other defecting NCPI MPs have sought four weeks from the Speaker to provide their explanation regarding the anti-defection law notice.
According to the Constitution, at least two-thirds of the total elected members or MPs of a political party must decide to join or merge with another party for it to be considered a valid merger, exempting them from the anti-defection law.
