New Delhi: A day after rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs said they would merge with the tiny, little-known Nationalist Citizens’ Party of India (NCPI), confusion took hold over who leads NCPI and whether, how, and why the merger is actually happening.
While NCPI president Shewly Kundu said she had resigned about a month ago, while two other office-bearers claimed they were unaware of any developments — even as most Lok Sabha MPs from the fourth-largest party in Parliament prepare to merge into NCPI, as reported by The Wire.
“I am no longer the president as I resigned about 20-30 days ago,” Kundu said to The Wire over the phone.
Asked whether she knew about the TMC rebels’ merger before resigning, Kundu said she had no information. When asked who replaced her, she replied: “That cannot be disclosed now.”
According to The Wire report, discontent was already surfacing within NCPI before the merger materialised. Organisational secretary Shantanu Dey said the party should not welcome TMC turncoats.
“If the party were to merge with the BJP, I would have no problem. We admire Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and have supported the BJP in the past. But these TMC leaders, you know their record is not good in terms of corruption – Saradha, Narada, they are named in all,” Dey had said.
Kundu, listed on social media as a journalist, ISO auditor, partner at law firm “No Problem Law Point”, and former mathematics teacher, said Dey is no longer organisational secretary. She said he only held responsibilities during the 2023 Tripura assembly elections.
“He was only given the responsibility during the Tripura elections. He is no longer the organisational secretary. He may not even be a member anymore,” she said.
Dey, however, told The Wire on Monday that the party constitution grants national committee members a four-year tenure.
“According to the party’s constitution the national committee members have a tenure of four years. In that regard I am still the organisational secretary. They are changing presidents like it is a private company,” he said.
Members also said they didn’t know how the merger was unfolding.
“None of us have a clear idea of what is happening, and how this merger is even taking place. We are only finding out from the media and have no clear idea about how this merger even happened,” The Wire quoted NCPI state youth general secretary Titash Bhattacharya, as saying.
“The party is not just about one person, it is an organisation, it is not a private entity. On what basis she has resigned, what has happened, we are completely in the dark about how this merger is taking place. We are happy that we will be a part of a bigger platform but the whole process is not clear to us about how things transpired.
“The party is about those workers who have taken it to the people and worked on the ground in Tripura. So we are trying to understand, holding discussions about how all this happened without any discussions being held,” he added.
According to The Wire, NCPI vice-president is Uttiyo Kundu and the party’s registered office in Howrah also serves as an e-newspaper and social trust called Jago Biswa, which Kundu manages. He calls himself a mathematician, law partner, ISO auditor, social worker, naturopath, and holds diplomas in yoga and naturopathy.
According to reports, NCPI was formed in late 2022, registered in 2023, ran only three seats in the 2023 Tripura election, and is registered in Howrah but has never contested in West Bengal. Its 2023 Tripura posters said: “Protect your rights by rejecting political turncoats, not politicians, join social workers.”
