Speaker Om Birla rejigs division numbers of MPs so that TMC rebels sit separately in Lok Sabha

New Delhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has allocated fresh seats to the 20 Trinamool Congress rebels in the Lower House to ensure they sit separately, rejigging the seating arrangement of a few other members in the process.

Officials aware of the new division numbers said as many as 39 MPs have been given new seats.

"To allow them to sit separately meant making other members shift to new seats," an official said.


The seat of Abhishek Banerjee, the leader of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the Lok Sabha, has also been changed.

P V Midhun Reddy of the YSR Congress and Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal are two of the members whose seats have been shifted in the process.

Every Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member has a unique division number based on which he or she is allocated seats in the two Houses.

The number is also used while signing documents and voting on bills.

The members will use their new numbers during the Monsoon Session beginning Monday.

On Saturday, Birla approved the merger of six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, besides allowing separate seating for the 20 rebel TMC lawmakers, who have joined the little-known National Citizens Party of India (NCPI).