NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: Twenty rebel TMC Lok Sabha MPs, over two-third of the party’s 28 MPs, have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking recognition as a separate group on the lines of the breakaway faction in the West Bengal assembly and said they will support BJP-led NDA at the Centre.The letter, which has been submitted by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar in her capacity as “chief whip”, has given Bengal assembly Speaker’s recognition of Ritabrata Banerjee-led TMC rebels, who are also over two-third of the party MLAs, as an example, sources confirmed on a day when the party suffered another setback as its RS member Prakash Chik Baraik resigned from it and the Upper House, making him the third to do so since Monday.Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Sushmita Dev had resigned earlier from RS and the party. While LS MPs Saayoni Ghosh and Mala Ray were also leaning towards the rebel camp, Trinamool got its first breather on Thursday when three TMC LS members — Shatrughan Sinha, Pratima Mondal, and Sajda Ahmed — and RS member Babul Supriyo made it clear that they remain with Mamata Banerjee.Baraik’s letter in which he said he was resigning from RS was similar to the one written by Sushmita Dev a day earlier. Baraik is also TMC’s Alipurduar district chief and was drafted into the party by Abhishek Banerjee. While Dev had called on Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma after her resignation, Baraik’s first stop was the Delhi residence of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.“People of Bengal have given their mandate to BJP. TMC didn’t win (the polls)… I am resigning,” Baraik said. In an interview with PTI, he said, “I will work as per the directions of CM Suvendu Adhikari and PM Narendra Modi.” He, however, refused to spell out his political future with BJP.Baraik’s resignation came against the backdrop of LS MPs Saayoni Ghosh and Mala Ray maintaining silence on whether they have joined the rebel camp. They did not respond to calls. Ghosh returned to Kolkata on Thursday. When journalists asked Ghosh, who was wearing a mask, about her future political moves, she walked straight to her car with her cellphone to her ear. This drew an immediate barb from TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh: “I mistook it for a Covid-time photo. She is either a rebel or with the party. Why this suspense?” On Mala Ray, Ghosh refrained from comment, saying only that “she (Ray) is the Kolkata South MP, a KMC chairperson. She is also unwell. What more can I say?”With almost all TMC actor-MPs making a beeline for the rebel camp, veteran actor and MP Shatrughan Sinha said he would stand by Mamata and TMC during their “difficult times”. Speaking to PTI, he said, “When I was going through a difficult phase after losing the Patna (LS) election in 2019, very few people stood by me. Mamata was among the few who supported and encouraged me. She believed I should continue in public life without any gap in my parliamentary journey, and it was on her direction that I contested from Asansol. By God’s grace, and with the support of Mamata and the people of Asansol, I achieved victory. For the past few days, there has been a lot of speculation about me.”He added, “I often say that if speaking the truth is considered rebellion, then I am also a rebel. I have always spoken frankly and called a spade a spade. But I want to state clearly that Mamata stood by me during my difficult times, and today, in her difficult phase, I cannot abandon her…”Rallying behind Mamata was another celebrity MP. RS member Babul Supriyo shared a post on X refuting speculation. “Amid all this confusion and rumour, I just wish to make it clear that I am neither joining any faction nor any other party. I think it’s inappropriate to abandon a ship when it is in troubled waters,” he said.Uluberia MP Sajda Ahmed also broke her silence while speaking to TOI. “I have not signed the letter. I am very much where people voted for me,” she said. Jaynagar MP Pratima Mondal also backed Mamata. “I had not signed the letter online or offline. People voted for me and for a symbol. I stand with them.”