TMC's Kalyan Banerjee wears poster with 20 rebel MPs' photos in Parliament

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) suspended MP Kalyan Banerjee on Thursday staged a protest in Parliament against the defection of party MPs, wearing a poster displaying photographs of 20 rebel legislators and calling them "traitors of West Bengal.""20 traitors of West Bengal are present in Parliament... dishonest people," Banerjee was heard saying while staging a protest.The protest comes after at least 20 of the TMC's 28 Lok Sabha MPs broke away from the party and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), pledging support to the NDA.The Trinamool Congress has described the rebel MPs as "gaddar" (traitors).The list of rebel MPs includes Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Rachna Banerjee, Jagadish Chandra Barma, Partha Bhowmick, Arup Chakraborty, Deepak Adhikari, Sayani Ghosh, Bapi Haldar, Abu Taher Khan, Kalipada Saren Kherwal, Asit Kumar and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, among others.Speaking to ANI earlier, Banerjee said the rebel MPs had approached the Election Commission regarding the split but no decision had been communicated so far.Calling for an early decision, Banerjee said prolonged uncertainty had political consequences. "Justice must be rooted in confidence; confidence should not be compromised. The matter has been left pending for so long. Granting them more time causes inconvenience. There is also a political ramification to this," he said.Earlier in the day, Banerjee also had a brief exchange with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra outside Makar Dwar over the political history between the Congress and the TMC. Priyanka Gandhi remarked, "You took them from Congress to TMC," to which Banerjee responded, "Mamata Banerjee was thrown out of Congress in 1997."Priyanka Gandhi then said, "Rajiv Gandhi always promoted Mamata Banerjee," a remark to which Banerjee agreed.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.