An embattled Mamata Banerjee stood further cornered on Monday as the Trinamool Congress appeared to be headed for a split in Parliament after the rebel camp claimed 20 Lok Sabha MPs will break away and support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lower House.Leader of the dissident camp Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a four-term MP from Barasat, said “20 MPs will write to Speaker Om Birla expressing a desire to be part of the NDA”. This could mean either a merger with the BJP parliamentary party along the lines of Aam Aadmi Party MPs in the Rajya Sabha recently or recognition as a separate faction backing the NDA. The latter is a more probable scenario with the BJP’s Bengal unit not keen on merging with the TMC ranks, whom they recently fought and defeated in the state.If this formalises, the strength of the NDA in the Lok Sabha will rise from 293 MPs to 313. This will have implications for the future of key Bills the government wants to table apart from political stability of the BJP-led dispensation, which is currently dependent on the JD(U) and the TDP for a majority in the House.Speaking to The Tribune, Kakoli said, “Nearly 20 TMC MPs, along with me, have decided to write to Speaker Om Birla and formally convey our desire to be part of the NDA.”She said the decision came after extensive discussions among fellow MPs. “As of now, I remain the chief whip of the TMC in the Lok Sabha, and in that capacity I have consulted colleagues before arriving at this decision. My removal (by Mamata Banerjee who named Kalyan Banerjee the chief whip) was arbitrary and unilateral. The party chairperson may have announced my replacement from the post, but that does not alter the constitutional and parliamentary position overnight,” Kakoli said.Asked why they were breaking away after years in the TMC, Kakoli (67) said, “We have accepted the people’s verdict and believe that our future political course should be aligned with the NDA. Accordingly, we will be communicating our decision to the Speaker. We want to be part of the NDA.”Importantly, Kakoli Ghosh, a doctor by profession, is a product of the same RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata which was at the centre of a storm caused by the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor on August 9, 2024.For being recognised as a separate faction, more than two-thirds (19) of MPs must split from the parent party, which has 28 MPs in the Lok Sabha.TMC leader Mahua Moitra, however, said the rebels didn’t have 19 members though the “BJP’s attempts to break them were on”. The TMC’s Lok Sabha implosion, which follows similar events in the Bengal Assembly, came on a day when Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee were in Delhi to attend the INDIA bloc meeting.Also, it came after senior TMC leader Sukhendu Shekhar Ray quit the Rajya Sabha and the TMC saying, “Power had gone into the heads of TMC leaders who thought they could never be touched. Now, see how the mighty have fallen.” Koel Mallick also resigned at the TMC Rajya Sabha MP later in the day.Ray said people of Bengal had expressed their mandate against “15 years of anarchical rule of the TMC arising out of unbridled corruption, atrocities against women, abysmal failure of health, education, law and order and industry”.He recalled the first Bengal elections of 1952 when out of 260 seats, the Congress won 150, Left 56, Jana Sangh nine and the Hindu Mahasabha four. “From nine to 208, the BJP has won people’s hearts by winning a first-ever mandate,” he said.Ray later led a group of 15 TMC MPs to the residence of Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, who was the BJP’s West Bengal election in charge, where Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari was also present. A few hours later, Kakoli said 20 Lok Sabha MPs would be quitting the party for the NDA.It now remains to be seen if Rajya Sabha MPs of the TMC would follow their Lok Sabha colleagues to split the legislature party. The TMC has 13 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and the rebels would need nine to break away to form a standalone outfit.Under the anti-defection law and the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, two-thirds of the party must split to claim an independent identity.The Tribune has, meanwhile, learnt that Abhishek attempted to contact dissidents today but was unable to. Both he and Mamata were silent with MPs Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad doing the batting on their behalf. “The MPs won in 2024 on the TMC ticket. The mandate was not for the NDA. All the greedy self-serving traitors with yellow-stained pants can please join BJP now–resign your seats and contest on the BJP ticket. Let’s see what big heroes you are,” Moitra said to the rebels.Firhad Hakim meets RitabrataIntense speculation ensured as to the future of one-time Mamata loyalist and former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim after he met rebel TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, who led 58 MLAs to form a separate TMC faction in the Bengal Assembly. Hakim is the tallest Muslim face of the TMC and is considered the very bedrock of Mamata’s minority support.