Draft:Faction of Trinamool Congress

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Faction of Trinamool Congress
Date3 June 2026 – present (2026-06-03 – present)
Location
TypeParliamentary political crisis
Cause
Motive
TargetAll India Trinamool Congress
ParticipantsAll India Trinamool Congress (AITC)
Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI)
Outcome

The 2026 West Bengal political crisis began on 3 June 2026 following the results of the 2026 assembly elections in the Indian state of West Bengal, where the All India Trinamool Congress headed by Mamata Banerjee witnessed massive revolts.[1][2] Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, two legislators of the party were expelled due to "anti-party activities" and actions prejudicial to the organization's interests. Following this, several MLAs of the party declared their support to Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition.[3]

Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, whose nomination as LoP triggered the crisis

The revolts led to the resignation of some Rajya Sabha MPs and the division in the party at the Lok Sabha, when Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and 19 other MPs merged with the Nationalist Citizen's Party of India and joined the National Democratic Alliance.[4]

Split in West Bengal Legislative Assembly

After the conclusion of the 2026 assembly elections in the state, on 10 May, the All India Trinamool Congress declared Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state assembly, with Nayna Bandyopadhyay and Ashima Patra as deputy leaders.[5][6] Firhad Hakim was declared as the chief whip of the party in the state legislature.[7] However, the speaker rejected the nomination of Chattopadhyay on ground of insufficient documentation.[8] Several MLAs individually submitted their support for Chattopadhyay as LoP.[9] Accusations of forgery in the signature surfaced, and investigation was launched by the authorities. Two Trinamool Congress MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, submitted their complaint regarding the forgery to the speaker.[10][11] Later, they were suspended by the party for anti-party activities. Abhishek Banerjee, the General Secretary of the party, sent a second letter to the Speaker on appointing Chattopadhyay as LoP.[12]

On June 3, Ritabrata Banerjee claimed that he has support of other 59 MLAs, and submitted support letter to the speaker.[13] He was later appointed as the LoP by the speaker.

Currently, Ritabrata Banerjee has the support of 64 MLAs in West Bengal Legislative Assembly, with only 16 MLAs in support of the Mamata Banerjee faction.[14]

Split and merger with NCPI in Lok Sabha

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar formed a group within the All India Trinamool Congress, and challenged the leadership of Abhishek Banerjee. She held a meeting with several other members of parliament and union minister Bhupender Yadav in Delhi. Soon after, she claimed that her group supported the Modi government. She sent a letter of support from majority members of parliament of Trinamool Congress to Om Birla, the Lok Sabha speaker.[15]

The Rebels have announced that they have temporarily merged with the NPCI and they will fight for the legitimacy of being the Real AITC in the Supreme Court.[16] On 14 June 2026, Dastidar, along other members of parliament, announced their merger with the NPCI.

List of Lok Sabha MPs

The 20 rebel AITC Lok Sabha MPs[16] are:

Resignations from Rajya Sabha

Some members of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament, belonging to the All India Trinamool Congress resigned in June 2026. On 8 June, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned from Rajya Sabha, followed by resignations of Sushmita Dev on 10 June, Koel Mallick and Prakash Chik Baraik on 11 June.

Rebellion at various levels of organisation

In response to the crisis, the AITC leadership dissolved all organizational committees and frontal organizations in West Bengal. Local leaders across districts are facing pushback and allegations of systemic "syndicate" practices, forcing some local satraps into hiding and prompting grievance redressal mechanisms.

See also

References

  1. Singh, Shiv Sahay (2026-06-07). "Why is there a rebellion in the Trinamool Congress? | Explained". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  2. "Trinamool Congress (TMC): How Mamata Banerjee is losing her own party". www.bbc.com. 2026-06-08. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  3. "Who is Ritabrata Banerjee? Meet expelled TMC leader, new LoP in Bengal Assembly".
  4. "20 rebel TMC MPs to merge with Nationalist Citizens Party, back NDA: Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar". June 14, 2026 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
  5. "Sovandeb Chattopadhyay: Ex-Boxer, 10-Time MLA Now Bengal's Opposition Leader". www.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 2026-05-11. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  6. "TMC names Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as LoP in West Bengal assembly". Business Standard.
  7. "TMC appoints Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as LoP, Firhad as chief whip in West Bengal Assembly". The New Indian Express. 2026-05-10. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  8. "Abhishek's letter appointing Sobhandeb as LoP rejected". www.millenniumpost.in. 2026-05-19. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  9. "TMC MLAs shoot letters backing Sobhandeb as LoP". www.millenniumpost.in. 2026-05-20. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  10. Kundu, Indrajit (2026-06-01). "TMC suspends 2 MLAs after Suvendu Adhikari's signature forgery claim". India Today. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  11. Singh, Shrabana Chatterjee & Shiv Sahay (2026-06-01). "TMC expels two MLAs minutes after CM announces they had lodged a complaint with the Speaker alleging forgery". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  12. "TMC sends fresh letter to Bengal Speaker backing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as LoP amid forgery row". moneycontrol.com. 3 June 2026.
  13. Arora, Kamna (2026-06-03). "Suspended MLA Ritabrata Banerjee arrives with 59 support letters, puts TMC's Opposition leadership claim under spotlight". The Statesman. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  14. "Split in Trinamool Congress deepens: Rebel MLAs count rises to 64, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigns". BusinessLine. 2026-06-10. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
  15. "TMC revolt: Saayoni Ghosh, Yusuf Pathan among 19 rebel TMC MPs who sent their names to Lok Sabha Speaker's Office". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
  16. "All rebel TMC MPs to merge with Nationalist Citizens Party, extend support to NDA". India TV. Retrieved 2026-06-14.