Birla had called Abhishek on Monday to hear his side, but the latter could not meet him as he was being questioned by the ED in connection with the school job scam probe.In the wake of the breakaway faction of TMC MPs seeking to be recognised as a separate bloc in Lok Sabha by claiming to merge with Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has made it clear he will hear both the sides — the group of 20 dissidents and those with party chief Mamata Banerjee and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee — before taking a decision on the issue.Birla had called Abhishek on Monday to hear his side, but the latter could not meet him as he was being questioned by the ED in connection with the school job scam probe. Instead, TMC MP Kirti Azad, who is aligned with Mamata, met Birla and conveyed to him about Abhishek’s inability to attend the meeting.“Abhishek Banerjee, who is committed to cooperating with all investigation agencies, is presently cooperating with the investigation at the ED office at the CGO complex, Kolkata,” Azad wrote to the Speaker.“When the interrogation concludes for the day, we undertake to inform him of the email he has received from you,” he wrote. Abhishek had earlier written to Birla opposing any recognition, status or facilities being granted to the breakaway TMC faction, which he described as a “purported separate group or faction” of All India Trinamool Congress.Sources in TMC said Azad later met Birla around 3.30 pm and conveyed the party’s position. Abhishek returned from the ED office around 11 pm, after which party leaders briefed him on the developments.Meanwhile, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who is leading the rebel TMC MPs, on Tuesday claimed the NCPI has agreed to accept the joining of all dissident MPs. She also said that NCPI has named Jyotiprakash Chatterji as its new president.“Acceptance has come to us. They (NCPI) are happy to take us. We will work together with the NDA under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah… Currently, we are 20 (MPs). The numbers may go up to 22,” she said.