Speaker Summons Abhishek Over TMC Split

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has summoned Trinamul Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee to a meeting on June 19 to present his case on the split in the party, sources said.

However, TMC said it had not received any information about the meeting.

The Speaker has already met 20 rebel MPs of the party who want to be recognized as a separate group after their merger with the Nationalist Citizens’ Party of India.

Banerjee was earlier called to a meeting on Monday but could not attend as she was being questioned by enforcement agencies. The speaker listens to both groups in the middle of the disagreement. Banerjee wrote a letter to Birla urging him not to grant recognition, status or facilities to any group claiming to be a separate faction of the All India Trinamul Congress.

Birla also sought legal opinion on the issue.