TMC, allies find common ground on Speaker motion, CEC impeachment

Kolkata: Trinamool will back the opposition's no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla with party chief and CM Mamata Banerjee giving her go-ahead to the move, TMC seniors said on Saturday.Trinamool's move to table an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Parliament's budget session beginning March 8 will also receive the opposition's backing. TMC, which supported the no-confidence motion against Birla, initially chose not to sign it and had advocated "a three-day restraint".
As a result, on Feb 18, when the no-confidence motion against Birla was tabled — signed by 118 opposition MPs from Congress, Samajwadi Party and DMK among others — TMC MPs did not sign it. Party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had said that the INDIA bloc should first place its grievances before the Speaker instead of rushing into a no-confidence motion."This is not a change of stance. We were on the same page regarding the no-confidence motion. All we differed on was the timing. And this is just the beginning. There will be more such coordinated moves in this three-week session of Parliament," a senior TMC MP said.Coinciding with the no-confidence motion against Birla, Trinamool also proposed moving an impeachment motion against Kumar.It requires around 100 MPs to sign for the motion to be tabled. TMC has 12 members in the Rajya Sabha and 28 in the Lok Sabha. It is understood that although initially hesitant about a Trinamool-sponsored motion against Kumar, Congress has decided to back it. Samajwadi is also with TMC on the impeachment move. Together, this gives the party more-than-enough MPs to table the motion, which would set a precedent in India.In an X post on Saturday, Trinamool said: "BJP treats its allies like disposable tissue; squeeze every drop of loyalty, seats and sweat out of them, then crumple and toss them aside the moment the job is done."Along with the post, TMC shared an interview clip of chief minister Mamata Banerjee with News18 Bangla, in which she said: "Didn't I say before, he (Nitish Kumar) was merely a showpiece — a face-saver to get the OBC votes. BJP uses people and then throws them out. Dhankhar (Jagdeep Dhankhar) was the first proof, Nitish the second. When Ajit Pawar died, I demanded a probe. I was abused then. What I asked for is being demanded by everyone now."Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Women's day wishes, messages and quotes !