With rival factions staking claim and no clarity yet on numbers or recognition, the battle is as much about Trinamool’s political legitimacy as it is about arithmetic, with the party’s identity itself now under contest.
Read more: As Mamata Banerjee attends INDIA bloc meet, dissident TMC MPs huddle in Delhi; split buzz reaches Parliament
Signalling an open revolt, a group of Trinamool MPs held a closed-door meeting here at the residence of Union minister and BJP’s Bengal in-charge Bhupender Yadav in the presence of West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari. Sources said more than a dozen MPs attended the meeting, with further mobilisation seen at the residence of MP Satabdi Roy.
BJP MP CM Ramesh was also present.
Among those present were Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, who resigned from both the party and the Rajya Sabha, and Lok Sabha MPs Prasun Banerjee, Sharmila Sarkar, Jagadish Chandra Basunia, Kalipada Saren Kherwal and Arup Chakraborty.
Read more: Sukhendu’s exit deepens TMC unrest, rebel leader Ritabrata claims more MPs set to break ranksWhile the Mamata Banerjee camp has sought to downplay the rebellion, estimating the number of dissidents at around eight MPs, the rebels claim it has the backing of 20 MPs and is expanding. “We will form a separate bloc and support NDA,” Sharmila Sarkar said, adding that the group could be led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. She said the group has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker, seeking recognition as a separate bloc and intends to formally align with NDA. “Our parliamentary party has decided to become part of NDA and work with it for the next three years,” she said, while also asserting her position as the party’s chief whip.
The Mamata Banerjee camp has challenged both the numbers and legality, citing a May 20 letter appointing Kalyan Banerjee as chief whip and arguing that the dissidents fall short of the two-thirds mark required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Senior leaders like Saugata Roy, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Kalyan Banerjee, Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen are learnt to be firmly with Mamata Banerjee, highlighting a deep vertical split between the party’s old guard and the breakaway faction.
The developments follow parallel churn in the state, where around 60 Trinamool MLAs formed a separate group in the assembly, further compounding the crisis within the party.
The move is also being seen as part of wider exercise to shore up NDA numbers ahead of the upcoming Parliament session amid indications that the government may once again attempt to push forward delimitation-related legislation.
Political observers say the scale and speed of the rupture point to deeper, unresolved issues within Trinamool, noting that even parties like RJD in Bihar and AAP in Delhi – despite suffering electoral setbacks in recent years – did not witness such rapid internal fragmentation.
The crisis unfolded even as Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee were in the national capital attending the INDIA bloc meeting, highlighting the widening gap between the party’s national positioning and its internal cohesion.
With claims and counterclaims over numbers, legality and leadership, the fight for control of Trinamool now appears set to play out in Parliament and possibly beyond, even as NDA seeks to capitalise on a significant political opening.
