A party insider told ET said that there are 60-odd dissident MLAs. “Altogether 60 MLAs attended a ‘secret’ meeting. Some new MLAs were scared, some were lured by money and power,” said a Trinamool MLA on condition of anonymity.
Many experts compare this to the splits in the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) between 2022 and 2023, where breakaway factions were legally recognised as the original parties.
In West Bengal, at least two-thirds of the Trinamool MLAs – around 53 of its original number of 80 – would need to defect together to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law. The number of Trinamool MLAs in West Bengal has already come down to 78 after the expulsion of two MLAs — Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha.
Several TMC councillors, including in the KMC, have resigned while several have been arrested on corruption charges. Tarak Singh, the Mayor-in-Council, resigned on Tuesday from his post in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
“Goons went on a rampage after BJP’s victory. I spoke to BJP MLA Indranil Khan to stop it. Our 80 MLAs won but no one contacted and the party did not stand by me,” Singh, a dissident voice, who blamed Mamata Banerjee, said. Singh was with Trinamool from its first day in 1998 and a close aide of Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee stands alone, with a handful of MLAs and MPs, including old-timers like MP Kalyan Bandopadhyay, MLAs Madan Mitra and Asima Patra, Sobhondeb Chattoapdhyay, Firhad Hakim and Nayana Bandopadhyay.Banerjee has been claiming that there has been an attempt to break her party. “They are trying to break the Trinamool party. Money is being used. Otherwise, they are using police to intimidate, and our MLAs are unable to come out.”
Regarding the confusion over selection of the leader of the opposition, she said: “Those who said the signatures did not match, you can do a forensic test. Some can do normal signatures while others can write in capital letters. But LoP nomination does not stop that way. Why did you not say it earlier?”
“When the Speaker was selected in the assembly, Sobhondeb Chattopadhyay accompanied the Speaker to his chair. Chattopadhyay was also asked to give his welcome address,” Banerjee said. “Why are you playing a dirty game?” she said.
“The main strength of the party is Mamata Banerjee. Only 26 days have passed and the party is crumbling. Someone can call me a betrayer. The party was functioning in a corporate style. We had to report to I-PAC, not to the party,” expelled MLA Ritabrata Bhattacharya said.
“Where is Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool? The real party has been hijacked,” he claimed. However, Ritabrata rejected the speculations about 50-plus Trinamool MLAs siding him and reports about secret meetings being held.
“Trinamool is crumbling and it is bound to happen. The party will completely get finished,” BJP cabinet minister designate Tapas Roy said. “Trinamool has been divided in two parts.”
Letter by TMC on LoP
In a letter to the Speaker, Trinamool National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee urged him to accept Sobhondeb Chattopadhyay as the LoP. “Principal Secretary of Assembly did not take the letter from me,” Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh said.
