Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday accepted the request of 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs for separate seating in the Lok Sabha, marking the first formal parliamentary recognition of the group's break from the Mamata Banerjee-led party amid an escalating internal rift.
The decision comes after the dissident MPs, led by veteran parliamentarian Sudip Bandyopadhyay, sought separate seating arrangements following their exit from the TMC and their move to the newly formed National Citizens Party of India (NCPI).