Speaker Om Birla Approves Shiv Sena UBT Merger, Allots Seats to Rebel TMC MPs

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) lawmakers with the Shiv Sena and allotted separate seating for 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs. The Speaker announced the decision on Saturday, two days before the monsoon session of Parliament begins on Monday.

An internal circular from the Lok Sabha table office formally revised the party positions to reflect these defections. The circular stated, "Consequent upon the change in party affiliation of 6 members of Shiv Sena UBT in Lok Sabha, a revised party position in the 18th Lok Sabha is enclosed." It showed the Shiv Sena holding 13 MPs and left the Sena (UBT) with three. These shifts alter the legislative balance right before a critical legislative period.

TMC Rebels Await Recognition

The 20 rebel TMC MPs submitted a formal merger application on June 14 to join the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a nondescript party based in West Bengal. Sudip Bandopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar led this parliamentary delegation. Around the same time, six Sena rebels met Birla for a similar purpose, and Birla later met the TMC leadership, including Abhishek Banerjee and the Sena (UBT) brass.

A senior official said that the merger issue of the TMC rebels was "under consideration" and "an appropriate decision would be taken shortly". Two TMC rebels told Hindustan Times they were hopeful that it would be approved in a day or two. Earlier this week, Dastidar told the publication that the Speaker had assured the group they will get a separate office and seating arrangement.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju invited Bandopadhyay to the Sunday all-party meeting as an NCPI representative. Rijiju addressed the administrative situation in a letter to the rebel leader.

"Recently, you and 19 other MPs have joined NCPI, and have already requested the Hon’ble Speaker Lok Sabha for recognition which is under his consideration," Rijiju said in the letter. Bandopadhyay met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening following this invitation.

The seating allocations provoked immediate resistance from opposition ranks.

"Mocking our democracy. Speaker has referred to 20 traitors as still being TMC MPs. Minutes later, Modi-Shah minister invites traitors for an all-party meet & refers to them as NCPI," Derek O'Brien posted on X.

Sena Shift Sparks Reactions

The Sena originally won seven seats in 2024. The six MPs who crossed over in June are Sanjay Jadhav, Bhausaheb Wakchaure, Sanjay Deshmukh, Nagesh Patil Ashtikar, Omraje Nimbalkar and Sanjay Patil. The leadership of the ruling faction celebrated the official parliamentary recognition.

"The required process has been completed. All six MPs have joined the Shiv Sena. Operation Tiger is a success," Shinde said.

Shiv Sena parliamentary party leader Shrikant Shinde welcomed the move.

"These MPs were ignored by their leaders [in UBT]...They took the right decision by joining us. We will welcome them in the Sena," Shrikant Shinde said.

The rival faction expressed surprise and indicated potential legal challenges.

"We don’t know on what grounds they have been recognised. We will have wait for a copy of the order. Then we will decide on the course of action and when to move the court," Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentary party leader Arvind Sawant said.

\NDA Numbers and Bills

If the Lok Sabha officially approves the NCPI merger, the ruling NDA's strength will rise to 319 MPs. The coalition would remain 41 seats short of the 360 required for a two-thirds majority. The Shiv Sena is now the second-largest ally in the NDA after the TDP. It holds 15 members across both houses, comprising 13 in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha.

These shifting numbers carry significant legislative weight. The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty First Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill failed in the previous session. They fell short at 298 to 230 votes. The government’s legislative push involved raising the cap on seats in the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850, with the allocation of seats to states defined by a delimitation commission on the basis of the 2011 census.

Opposition parties previously voted against the bill. The NCP (SP) and Sena (UBT) rejected the proposed legislation due to the lack of written guarantees for a uniform 50% rise in Lok Sabha seats per state. Union Home Minister Amit Shah attempted to turn the tables on the Opposition, offering to bring an official amendment mentioning a 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats in return for support for the women’s reservation bill.

There is also buzz that the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) was inching closer to the ruling NDA, though NCP chief Sunetra Pawar opposes the move and Supriya Sule denied such speculations. Hindustan Times reported earlier this week that there was a possibility the government might revise the text of the proposed bill to include a reference to the 50% proportional increase in seats for each state.