Twenty Trinamool Congress MPs asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for two more weeks to answer disqualification notices. Rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said on Thursday that the group needed time to organise documents. "We are writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker requesting two more weeks," she told PTI reporters.
The 20 Trinamool Congress MPs who have sided with the NCPI have asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for another fortnight to answer disqualification notices issued against them, rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said on Thursday.
The extension was sought as the deadline for submitting their replies expires on October 8. The MPs are facing a petition seeking their disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Ghosh Dastidar, one of the MPs named in the petition, said the group needed more time to gather and organise the documents required for its response. The request for an extension has been sent to the Lok Sabha secretariat.
"Our deadline to send a reply is about to end today. We are writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker requesting two more weeks," Ghosh Dastidar told PTI.
The MPs were given time till October 8 by the Lok Sabha secretariat to submit their replies within the stipulated timeframe.
However, their legal team could not complete the response as the deadline approached, prompting the MPs to seek additional time.
The disqualification notices were issued following a petition seeking action against the MPs under the anti-defection provisions.
The rebels have maintained that their decision to leave the TMC and align with the NCPI does not attract disqualification.
The 20 MPs are also scheduled to hold an urgent meeting in Kolkata at 3 pm on Thursday to discuss the issue, Ghosh Dastidar said.
The meeting is expected to discuss the Lok Sabha notices and their next course of action.