The party, suddenly at the centre of Bengal's biggest political realignment, is now grappling with a question many political organisations settled long ago: who exactly is in charge?

Hours after rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs announced plans to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), conflicting claims over the party's leadership surfaced, exposing fresh uncertainty around the little-known outfit that has unexpectedly become a key player in national politics.

The latest twist came from Shewly Kundu, who identified herself as the founder president of the NCPI but said she had stepped down from the post and was no longer involved in the party's functioning.

‘I was the founder president of this party. I have already resigned the post of president. The new president of the party can give details. I don't know who the new president. In Tripura, we were with the NDA. Because I could not devote much time due to my practice in the High Court, I resigned (from party post). I will not comment on this (TMC MPs merging with NCPI). Shantanu Dey is neither the party founder nor the general secretary. He was not a member after 2023,” Kundu said.

The statement complicates an already unusual political story. The NCPI, a party that has never contested a Lok Sabha election and secured only a few hundred votes in the 2023 Tripura Assembly polls, was thrust into the spotlight after rebel TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed that 20 of the party's 28 Lok Sabha MPs were backing a plan to merge with the outfit and support the BJP-led NDA.

The merger proposal is widely seen as an attempt to circumvent anti-defection provisions and create a new parliamentary identity for the rebel bloc following the TMC's defeat in the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections.

Leadership claims and competing narratives

Until Kundu's intervention, much of the public discussion around the merger had centred on objections raised by Shantanu Dey, who had described himself as the party's organisational secretary and questioned the decision to induct the rebel MPs.

‘If the party were to merge with the BJP, I would have no problem. We admire Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and have supported the BJP in the past. But these TMC leaders, you know their record is not good in terms of corruption, Saradha, Narada, they are named in all, Dey had told The Wire.

He had also claimed that he would not support the merger unless the party leadership consulted him.

Kundu's remarks, however, directly challenge Dey's standing within the organisation, saying he has not even been a member since 2023.

The competing claims have added another layer of intrigue to a party that already stood out for its near-total anonymity.

Election Commission records show the NCPI contested only a handful of seats in Tripura in 2023. Its candidates polled just 536 votes in Chawmanu and 286 in Kailashahar.

Financial disclosures show that the party reported income of Rs 1.13 lakh for the financial year ending March 2023 and ended the year with a cash balance of Rs 75.

Yet this same organisation now finds itself at the centre of a political rebellion involving a large section of the fourth-largest party in the Lok Sabha.

The irony is difficult to miss. Campaign material circulated by the NCPI during the Tripura elections had urged voters to reject political turncoats.

Now, as TMC rebels seek political shelter within the party, questions are being raised not only about the merger but also about the structure and leadership of the party itself.

For a political outfit that spent years on the margins, the NCPI has suddenly become one of the most talked-about names in Indian politics. The problem is that as attention pours in, so do questions about who actually speaks for it.

(Source: Inputs from The Wire and statements made by Shewly Kundu)