Speculation of a split and rebellion by lawmakers has gripped three major opposition parties — the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT, and the Samajwadi Party (SP) — with allegations being made against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the alliance led by it, NDA, of orchestrating the uprising of sorts by MPs and MLAs.
Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee left for Delhi on Friday to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over his yet-to-be-taken decision on the move by 20 rebel TMC MPs to merge with a small Tripura-based party NCPI, which is part of the NDA.
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.
Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, 'Operation Tiger' has been gaining momentum. Operation Tiger is the name given to the Shiv Sena's attempts to poach Sena (UBT) elected representatives.
Leaders of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena said six MPs from the rival Sena (UBT) are likely to form a separate group and are expected to submit a letter to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.
Split speculation are also haunting the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party after internal turmoil.
