Before session uproar erupts; Opposition outraged after seeing rebel TMC MPs,

Just before the start of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, an all-party meeting convened on Sunday at the Parliament Annexe in New Delhi witnessed a major uproar. The entire opposition, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, and AAP, walked out of the meeting in protest against the invitation extended to rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs. However, the opposition leaders later described it as a “symbolic protest” and rejoined the meeting.

The main reason for the opposition’s walkout was the decision to invite 20 rebel All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs to the meeting and recognize them as a separate group. These rebel MPs have joined a party named NCPI.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, “The entire opposition—including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, JMM, Aam Aadmi Party, National Conference, Left parties, and Shiv Sena (UBT)—has walked out of this meeting.”

After leaving the meeting, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, “The Congress has staged this walkout to protect the Constitution. Taking such a step without a final decision is completely unconstitutional.” Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, “In which law book is the affiliation granted to the rebel MPs mentioned? We have strongly protested against it.”

AAP MP N. D. Gupta said, “In our case as well, 7 out of our 10 Rajya Sabha MPs have been ‘hijacked.’ Even though our petition is still pending, they have been allotted separate seats in the Rajya Sabha. This is the blatant murder of democracy.”

On the other hand, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a rebel TMC MP who joined NCPI, also attended the meeting, where Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Arjun Ram Meghwal welcomed her. Commenting on the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to allot separate seats to the 20 rebel MPs, she said, “We want to work for the development of the country and our state. All 20 members want their constituencies to develop properly and do not want to remain under threat, because we were previously under threat. We have submitted our application, received responses, and are providing all the documents that have been requested.”

After the initial strong protest and walkout, the opposition leaders returned to the all-party meeting. They said that their walkout was a “symbolic protest” against the government’s arbitrary actions, but that they would continue participating in the meeting to ensure the smooth functioning of Parliament and to raise issues concerning the public.(UPDATED ON 19TH jULY 2026)