A Palace Coup in Kolkata: TMC Rebels Declare Mamata Banerjee Removed as Chair

In a dramatic turn of events, a splinter group of TMC legislators and leaders has claimed to take control of the party, ousting Mamata Banerjee and suspending Abhishek Banerjee.

The power corridors of West Bengal are reeling after a high-stakes rebellion unfolded in a New Town hotel on Monday evening. Following the conclusion of the state assembly’s budget session, a group of dissident leaders—led by Uluberia East MLA Ritabrata Banerjee—convened a closed-door meeting that has effectively split the Trinamool Congress (TMC) down the middle. Claiming the mandate of 60 MLAs and 70 councillors, the rebels announced the formation of a new National Working Committee, formally naming senior legislator अरूप रॉय as the party’s new Chairman.

The scale of the dissent is unprecedented. During the meeting, which saw an attendance of nearly 500 party functionaries including 16 district presidents, a resolution was passed not only to remove Mamata Banerjee from the chairperson’s post but also to suspend her nephew and national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee. The rebels, who have begun using the party’s name and official symbol, left no room for ambiguity: they claim to be the "real" TMC, citing a constitutional crisis within the parent organization as the primary driver for this takeover.

The Constitutional Argument

The rebel faction’s justification rests on the TMC’s own internal constitution. Ritabrata Banerjee and his associates argued that the party’s national executive committee has far exceeded its three-year term, with the last body constituted in February 2022. By invoking this procedural lapse, the dissidents are attempting to provide a veneer of legitimacy to what is clearly a desperate bid for organizational control. For the rebel camp, this is a matter of restoring democratic function to a party they feel has drifted from its foundational roots.

Meanwhile, the ripples of this TMC crisis have reached New Delhi. Reports indicate that the rebel faction is actively seeking formal recognition from the Lok Sabha Speaker. Their claim of support is significant; they assert that 20 out of the party's 28 Lok Sabha MPs have signed a letter seeking independent recognition. Should this materialize, the implications for the opposition's unity in Parliament would be seismic, with the dissident group openly suggesting a willingness to offer unconditional support to the NDA.

The Counter-offensive

Aware of the gathering storm, Mamata Banerjee has not remained idle. In a preemptive organizational purge reported by outlets like Oneindia, the TMC supremo has sidelined several senior leaders, including MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, youth wing president Saayoni Ghosh, and women’s wing chief Mala Roy. By replacing these stalwarts with loyalists, Banerjee is attempting to insulate the party from further erosion. However, the optics of the situation remain challenging, especially with the rebel faction eyeing the party's bank accounts and threatening legal action to secure control over the official symbol.

Why it matters

This is more than just a fight over party chairs; it is an existential battle for the legacy of the movement Mamata Banerjee founded in 1998. The rebellion suggests a deep-seated dissatisfaction that has festered since the recent assembly election results. If the rebel faction successfully navigates the legal hurdles to claim the party symbol, it could permanently fracture the state's political landscape. At this stage, the TMC is caught in a war of attrition where the battle for the "original" label is being fought in hotels, assembly lobbies, and potentially, the courts. The irony of the situation—where the party’s own internal rules are being used as a weapon against its founder—highlights how fragile political hegemony can become when internal dissent goes unaddressed for too long.