For advertisement on our platform, do call at +91 6377460764 or email us at [email protected].
In Indian politics, Trinamool Congress symbolised nothing but one thing for almost three decades. It meant Mamata Banerjee. In 1998, she was founded the party from scratch. She had been a staunch opponent of the powerful Left Front for years. She finally won. But at present, her political machine is crumbling, though alive and in action.
The problems began at the state elections in May 2026. The results were completely devastating for the ruling party. The BJP won a clean sweep in the state with a tally of 207 seats. They came up with their first-ever Government in West Bengal. The TMC was totally destroyed. Their huge majority was reduced to just 80 seats. That wasn’t good for the party morale. However, the biggest surprise was from Bhabanipur. Mamata Banerjee contested from her home turf. She had been defeated by Suvendu Adhikari.
This was her second defeat from her former right hand man. Political symbolism was loud and clear. The man who had succeeded in bringing an end to the communist regime of 30 years was now seeing his own empire fall apart before his eyes. And then came the Bhabanipur repoll. Even though a TMC candidate withdrew from the campaign, his name stayed on the ballot. That was a victory for the BJP as well. The TMC came in fourth place. Forced to the back foot by the CPM and the Congress. It’s no ordinary fourth place victory in a traditional bastion. The cadre began to experience panic.
A Rebellion Inside the Ranks
The loss of power was only the beginning of the problems. The events that follow will wipe out the party for good. Out of the 80 MLAs who managed to win on a TMC ticket, 58 have decided to walk away from Mamata’s direct control. Open rebellion is openly being raised against them.
It is the first-ever division in the Trinamool Congress which is in power for the past 28 years. The rebels are rallying round Ritabrata Banerjee. He is one of the leaders who was expelled from the group who succeeded to bring the voices in the group together in just a few days. Senior veterans, among them Javed Ahmed Khan, Rathin Ghosh and Sabina Yasmin are solid with the dissident group. They have set up their own parallel leadership structure. Akhruzzaman has been appointed their chief whip.
Kolkata is an extremely charged environment now. On June 5, Mamata Banerjee called a meeting at her Kalighat residence. There was a very poor attendance. The party’s press wing promptly fired a counteroffensive. They said that it was a National Working Committee meeting, and not an open meeting for all the MLAs. But the optics were not good. The meeting was ridiculed publicly by Ritabrata. He instructed the reporters to check the number of members who actually attended Mamata’s house. The centre of power is clearly shifted.
The battle over the Chair of the opposition.
The entire fiasco erupted over a rather mundane parliamentary job. Under the law, the TMC had 80 members and was entitled to the leadership of the opposition in the state assembly. The party leadership had decided to appoint veteran Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay. They had a formal offer to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose.
After that, it all exploded. The signatures of several lawmakers on the scheme were completely bogus, serious allegations were made. It became a huge legal nightmare overnight. An FIR was filed. The Criminal Investigation Department took over the investigation of the alleged forgery. TMC ousts Ritabrata Banerjee, Sandipan Saha after hours of the CID probe coming out on the June 1st.
However, evicting them didn’t prevent the bleeding. It hastened the downfall. The 58 rebel MLAs completely rejected the party’s official stance. They went through a vote and chose Ritabrata as their Leader of Opposition. They went to the Assembly Speaker on foot. And the Speaker knew him. This one zapped the legislative power out of Mamata’s hands.
Nephew and Consultants Face the Heat
It is the anger within that had been simmering for years that must be recognized to understand this explosion. The MLAs were very angry. However, they were not targeting Mamata as their initial target. They primarily aimed at Abhishek Banerjee. He is her nephew. He is the party’s national general secretary. He essentially took over the organization for the past several years.
The rebels say a significant turning point occurred May 6. That just followed the hard knocks at the polls. During the meeting of newly-elected MLAs, Mamata reportedly requested all the participants to stand up and clap Abhishek for his campaign work. The lawmakers were outraged. They had just been defeated in the state. However, they felt that they couldn’t even bring up one criticism about Abhishek.
I-PAC was another great source of anger. The party’s political consultancy is the one it used to run campaigns. Senior leaders detested them. They were humiliated to be under the orders of young corporate strategists and not old-time politicians. One MP commented that I-PAC was continually siding opposing Local Leaders against one another. Some veteran MLAs voiced their dismay that they could not meet Mamata since 2016. Now instead of her old Kalighat house, its real power had shifted to Abhishek’s corporate style office on Camac Street. This loss only unleashed all this frustration.
As a result, the Battle was taken to the Courts.So the Battle went to the Courts.
The loyalists are trying to mount a defense. However, their opportunities are rapidly becoming limited. Senior party member MP Kalyan Banerjee announced that they are going to Calcutta High Court directly. Their formal legal challenge will be filed Monday, June 8.
The official TMC camp has stated that the Speaker violated the parliamentary protocol by recognizing Ritabrata.According to the official TMC camp, the Speaker violated the parliamentary protocol by recognizing Ritabrata. They say that the entire affair was bogus and illegitimate. Ritabrata completely brushes off the threat. He claims that everything was carried out “manila-fashion”. He stresses that he’s got the numbers. In a democracy, the number of people who vote over the number of people who have lived.
