The crisis in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) deepened on Monday, with the rebel camp claiming that at least 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have decided to form a separate bloc and align with the BJP-led NDA.
This is a massive blow to party chief Mamata Banerjee, who has already lost control of the TMC Legislature Party in the West Bengal Assembly. While the rebel group led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar claimed the support of as many as 20 MPs, at least 14 of them attended a meeting at Union Minister Bhupender Yadav’s home along with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Those close to Mamata Banerjee put the number of rebels at 12. Later in the day, eight rebel MPs met at the residence of Satabdi Roy in the presence of Adhikari.
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The rebel camp claimed that the Lok Sabha MPs who attended the meeting at Yadav’s home earlier in the day are Ghosh Dastidar, Roy, Bapi Haldar, Arup Chakraborty, June Maliah, Deepak Adhikari (Dev), Kalipada Saren, Jagadish Basunia, Asit Mal, Md Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahaman, Sharmila Sarkar, Prasun Banerjee, and Partha Bhowmick. The dissidents claimed the support of six more MPs. To escape the provisions of the anti-defection law, they need the support of at least 19 MPs.
Sukhendu Sekhar Ray after resigning from the TMC and the Rajya Sabha, in New Delhi, Monday. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)
Rajya Sabha MP resigns
The TMC witnessed a flurry of developments in Delhi through the day. While Mamata Banerjee and TMC’s second-in-command Abhishek, her nephew and the TMC’s leader in the Lok Sabha, attended a meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc, the rebels moved ahead to split the Lok Sabha wing. The first blow came in the morning when senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigned from the primary membership of the party and as a member of the Upper House. There is a likelihood of one more Rajya Sabha MP resigning, sources said.
His resignation from the Upper House has been accepted by Chairman C P Radhakrishnan. Asked why he had resigned, Ray told The Indian Express, “Because of the situation that was prevailing in the party for a long time.” He refused to provide a definitive answer on whether he would join another party, saying, “I have spent 59 years in politics. So I have to take a call at the appropriate time after introspection and retrospection.”
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The dissident Lok Sabha MPs and Ray then met at a five-star hotel before proceeding to the house of Bhupender Yadav, who was the BJP’s West Bengal election in-charge. Soon afterwards, Adhikari too arrived at Yadav’s Motilal Nehru Marg residence.
Ghosh Dastidar, the Barasat MP, claimed that 20 TMC MPs, including her, had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, requesting him for “separate seating”. This bloc of TMC MPs would “formally support the NDA” and work with the Central and state government for West Bengal’s development, she said. Sources in the Speaker’s office, however, said they had not yet received any letter from the MPs.
Sources said Ghosh Dastidar signed the letter as the party’s chief whip. The rebels said that though Kalyan Banerjee had replaced the Barasat MP as the chief whip on Mamata Banerjee’s directions last month, the change was not completed through the required parliamentary procedure. This has allowed Ghosh Dastidar to claim the post of chief whip.
Bardhaman Purba MP Sharmila Sarkar also claimed that the rebels had submitted the letter. “We held a meeting. We want to sit separately. I respect Didi (Mamata). I wanted to work, but I could not. Under the leadership of Kakoli di, this separate bloc has been formed,” she said.
“We are 20 MPs. We held a meeting at Bhupender Yadav’s residence in the presence of CM Suvendu Adhikari. We need to support the NDA for Bengal’s development. Kakoli di submitted the letter. So far, she is leading our bloc,” Sarkar said.
What Mamata camp is saying
Those close to Mamata Banerjee said the dissidents do not have the support of two-thirds of the MPs. “The fake and fabricated narrative of the dirty tricks department of BJP is giving numbers of 20 MPs. There were 13 MPs — 12 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha — who attended the meeting at Bhupender Yadav’s house. No one else has signed on the dotted line apart from these,” TMC’s Bardhaman-Durgapur MP Kirti Azad said in a social media post.
Azad also disputed Ghosh Dastidar’s claim to the chief whip’s post, sharing a copy of the letter Mamata Banerjee sent to Speaker Birla on May 20 — in her capacity as chairperson of the TMC Parliamentary Party — informing him about the decision to appoint Kalyan Banerjee as the chief whip.
Azad’s party colleague Mahua Moitra also targeted the rebels, calling on them to resign. “MPs won in 2024 on TMC ticket. The mandate was NOT for NDA … resign your seats and contest on BJP ticket. Let’s see what big heroes you are.”
The TMC rebel MPs’ support for the NDA will give the BJP a big edge in Parliament, effectively neutralising the challenge from the third-largest Opposition party in the House. The TMC is imploding in the aftermath of the party’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections last month. Last week, at least 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs refused to accept Mamata’s choice of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the LoP in the Assembly.