We are the largest parliamentary force from West Bengal: NCPI in a social media post

A day after 20 Lok Sabha MPs of the Trinamool Congress decided to merge with the little-known Nationalist Citizen Party of India (NCPI), the party claimed in a social media post that it has become the largest parliamentary force in West Bengal.

“With 20 Lok Sabha seats, NCPI is emerging as the largest parliamentary force in West Bengal shaping the voice of the state at the national level. The numbers speak for themselves…” a Facebook post by NCPI claimed. According to the post, the number of MPs from NCPI is 20, the BJP has 12, the Trinamool Congress has eight and the Congress in the Lok Sabha has one. The party also released photographs of rebel Trinamool MPs with the party’s symbol.

20 rebel MPs of Trinamool Congress announced their decision to merge with NCPI. The MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Delhi on Sunday, June 14, 2026, and submitted a letter to this effect.

According to the information provided on NCPI’s Facebook page, the headquarters of this political party is located in Howrah’s Hatgachha village under Sankrail police station. The Facebook page was created in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2026. The party is run by the couple Uttiyo Kundu and his wife Shewly Kundu. The green and saffron party office in rural Howrah saw police and central forces deployed outside the office on Monday, June 15, 2026.

According to local people, Shewly Kundu, who comes from Hatgachha village, runs a volunteer organization with her husband Uttiyo Kundu. Locals said NCPI has an office in Hatgachha since 2022 and has fielded candidates in the panchayat elections in 2023. However, the party did not field any candidates in the Lok Sabha polls in the 2024 and 2026 Assembly elections.

Several past officials said they were left completely in the dark about the developments regarding the Trinamool Congress MP’s merger.

Titas Bhattacharya, who claimed to be the general secretary of the party, said, “Uttiyo Kundu and Shewly Kundu are in Delhi. Their phones have been switched off since last night. We have learned that they are in Delhi. No one else in the party has any idea about the developments. We started as a small party. Our organization was never in touch with the BJP. But it seems that some people individually were in regular contact with the BJP.”

As suggested by Election Commission of India (ECI) data, NCPI registered itself on February 2, 2023, at the Jago Biswa building in Sankrail in West Bengal’s Howrah district. They were also given the foundation pen symbol by the ECI. Three NCPI candidates contested the assembly elections in Tripura and secured 822 votes.

Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh, who is considered a Mamata Banerjee loyalist, said the rebels were not welcome in the party, which planned their defection and sent them to the little-known third party.

The decision by rebel Trinamool MPs to merge with a registered regional political party and not form a separate bloc within the Trinamool Congress was to avoid any legal complications under the anti-defection law. The law states that if two-thirds of a political party’s legislators decide to join another party, neither the members who decide to join nor those who remain in the original party will be disqualified.

Trinamool Congress is facing a rebellion following the party’s defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs formed a separate bloc and elected expelled Trinamool MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition.