For the first time, NCPI MPs attended the NDA Parliamentary Party’s weekly ‘Mangal Milan’ meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting was held at the G.M.C. Balayogi Auditorium in the Parliament Library Building and was attended by the Prime Minister and senior Union Ministers.
NCPI MPs said discussions covered free trade agreements
A group of Members of Parliament who left the Trinamool Congress and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) attended a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Parliamentary Party for the first time on Tuesday, 28 July 2026.
The weekly meeting, known as ‘Mangal Milan’, was held at the G.M.C. Balayogi Auditorium in the Parliament Library Building. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several senior Union Ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and Minister of State Jitendra Singh, were present.
Twenty Lok Sabha MPs had earlier revolted against the Trinamool Congress and joined the NCPI. They have been sitting separately in the Lok Sabha, away from the TMC benches. Speaker Om Birla is yet to take a formal decision on recognising the NCPI as a parliamentary party. After joining the NCPI, the MPs had expressed their allegiance to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Veteran MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, a prominent member of the group, had recently met the Prime Minister.
NCPI MPs who attended the meeting included Sudeep Bandopadhyay, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Shatabdi Roy, Saayoni Ghosh, Sharmila Sarkar, Mitali Bagh and others. They had been allotted a separate seating block in Parliament.
NCPI MP Saayoni Ghosh said: “I participated in the NDA meeting. It was an enriching and informative meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today, we had a discussion on FTAs. It was a positive discussion.” She added that everyone should support the anti-paper leak Bill, which was scheduled for discussion later in the day.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said this was the first time the 20 NCPI MPs had been invited to the NDA’s ‘Mangal Milan’ meeting. “We came to know about the progress of the country, about FTAs, farmers. With the data we got, we will be able to make people understand these issues as well,” she said.
The meeting took place during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, a day after the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The NDA has lined up several young MPs, including two from the NCPI—Sharmila Sarkar and Mitali Bagh—to participate in the debate on the Bill.
The ‘Mangal Milan’ is the rebranded weekly NDA parliamentary party strategy session held to coordinate floor management and alliance positions during Parliament sessions.
