00:00News coming in from Bengal. Now what is happening with the TMC is a rumour whether the Trinamool Congress could
00:07merge with the Congress Party.
00:08Especially after Mamata Banerjee met the senior Congress leaders at the India Bloc meeting.
00:13But there's already been a difference and a rejection of that as that has come in from rebel TMC camp.
00:21Now Ritavrath Banerjee who now is the LOP member in the Bengal Assembly has said,
00:26but we have the support of 64 MLAs, 20 members of parliament.
00:31There is no question of such a merger with the Congress Party.
00:36So this appears to be while Mamata Banerjee may seek help from the Congress Party,
00:40the rebel camp is saying, but why? We already have the numbers.
00:43Our editor from Bengal, Indrajit Kundu joins me for the latest on that.
00:48Indrajit, how fascinating is this that there is now this LOP who is saying that we have the numbers.
00:53So what does that mean? That means that we are already witnessing a rise of a TMC without Mamata Banerjee.
01:01Well absolutely, it's a TMC within the TMC.
01:05The new bloc has risen and they are asserting themselves even as Mamata Banerjee is trying to not just keep
01:12her flock together,
01:13which she is evidently failing at this point in time.
01:16But she will also have to retain control of what she believes is the Trinamul Congress is.
01:22Because the rebel faction, they are already starting to assert themselves.
01:27At a time with both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee has met the Congress top brass twice.
01:34Mamata Banerjee has met Sonia Gandhi, Abhishek Banerjee today met Rahul Gandhi.
01:38And Mamata Banerjee, by the way, has just landed in Kolkata.
01:42Ritabrota Banerjee, who is officially the leader of the opposition,
01:47as, you know, after the green signal of the speaker of the Bengal Assembly,
01:51he is saying that there is no question of a merger with the Congress.
01:55They have clarified their position.
01:58On the other hand, the 20-odd MPs, which has been talked about from the rebel camp,
02:03led by Kakuli Ghosh Dastidhar,
02:05she has made it clear that they are supporting the NDA.
02:08They will be supporting the NDA.
02:10That's the plan of action as far as the MPs in the Lok Sabha are concerned.
02:15So, in this scenario, it's clearly Mamata Banerjee not just...
02:19I have to ask you this.
02:20We have to keep her flock together.
02:21What is the number game looking like for Mamata Banerjee?
02:24How many MPs or MLAs does she really have who she can trust?
02:29Because even though I understand Mahua Moitra may have had differences with Mamata Banerjee,
02:33but at least she's staying on.
02:35Who else?
02:38Well, that number is a complete guesswork right now, Pooja, to be very fair,
02:43because with each passing moment, each passing day, you know, numbers are changing.
02:47Ritabrota Banerjee today told us that there are 64 MLAs in their camp.
02:51So, you can do the math.
02:53So, there is barely about 20-odd, or less than 20 now, 16-odd, you know, MLAs sticking around with
03:00Mamata Banerjee.
03:00As far as the Lok Sabha is concerned, the claim, of course, from the rebel camp is that they have
03:0620.
03:06So, one can then think of the remaining eight.
03:10Now, within the remaining eight, also, there are some names which are, you know,
03:14there is no confirmation as to what their exact stance is.
03:16There are 13 Rajya Sabha MPs for the Trinidad Congress.
03:21Two have already quit.
03:22So, there are 11 right now, and there is a bus that more people can quit in the days to
03:27come.
03:27So, as I said, it's a situation...
03:29As we are speaking, Indrajeep, you're absolutely correct.
03:31It's a complete flock.
03:32That the numbers are constantly changing.
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