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Rebel TMC MPs Seek 15 More Days to Reply to LS Notices on Disqualification Plea
The MPs said their legal team still needs to collate documents as the reply deadline ends, after an earlier extension expired.
On Thursday, twenty dissident Trinamool Congress MPs requested a 15-day extension from the Lok Sabha Secretariat to respond to disqualification notices as the October 8 deadline expired.
Disqualification proceedings stem from petitions filed by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on June 18, after rebel MPs broke ranks to join the Nationalist Citizens Party of India and support the BJP-led NDA.
Dissident MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar stated their legal team needs more time to compile documentation; 10 MPs met in Kolkata on Thursday to unanimously decide on the extension request.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh denounced the rebels as "turncoats" and "opportunists," while the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction asserted they will "be disqualified" regardless of the delay.
Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumder noted that deciding on the extension request falls under the Lok Sabha Speaker's prerogative, though parliamentary records continue listing dissidents as TMC members.