New Delhi, August 26: The Lok Sabha Secretariat has given 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs seven days to respond to a petition seeking their disqualification on grounds of defection. According to a notice issued by the Secretariat, the petition was filed by Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s national general secretary and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.
The letter, dated August 25, states, “You are requested kindly to furnish your comments on the petition in terms of Rule 7 (3) of the said Rules within seven days of the receipt of this letter for consideration of the Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha.”
Sharing the notice on her social media handle, TMC MP Mahua Moitra called it a “cover-up”. She said the party had filed disqualification petitions against the 20 rebel MPs in June, but the Speaker “did nothing except give them better seats at our expense”. Moitra also said, “SG Tushar Mehta in Court said Speaker had issued notices.”
