NDA ranks boosted as Om Birla okays 6 rebel UBT MPs joining Shiv Sena

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognized six rebel Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs' decision to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, boosting NDA ranks.

Birla has not yet decided on the merger of 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), but has allowed them separate seats in the Lok Sabha as part of NDA.

The rebel TMC faction will attend the all-party meeting called by the government, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju addressed Sudip Bandyopadhyay as NCPI leader in his letter.

Shiv Sena (UBT) and Trinamool Congress had demanded disqualification of their rebel MPs, but Birla accepted the Shiv Sena rebels' merger based on the two-thirds rule of a parliamentary party.