Mamata Banerjee Overhauls Trinamool Congress as Internal Rebellion Mounts

Facing a significant revolt from dozens of MLAs, the TMC leadership has appointed new national joint secretaries and reconstituted the West Bengal committee to stabilize the party.

In a high-stakes effort to quell an escalating internal revolt, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee has initiated a major organizational reshuffle. On Friday, June 5, 2026, the party announced the appointment of Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen as national joint secretaries. These two leaders have been tasked with assisting national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, a strategic move aimed at diffusing the widespread resentment directed toward him by a significant faction of the party.

The crisis within the Trinamool Congress has reached a tipping point, with 58 party MLAs openly aligning against the established leadership. The friction stems from a contentious selection process for the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly. While the leadership had originally backed ten-time MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, a rebel camp of 58 legislators threw their weight behind the younger Ritabrata Banerjee. The situation turned legal after Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha alleged that their signatures on the nomination letter for Chattopadhyay were forged, leading to their expulsion from the party and a subsequent FIR that has brought investigators to the doorstep of Abhishek Banerjee.

Administrative Shake-up and Strategic Rebuilding

To restore order, the party has completely reconstituted the West Bengal Pradesh Trinamool Congress Committee. Chandrima Bhattacharya has been appointed as the new state president, leading a revamped team that includes vice presidents Sajda Ahmed, Mamata Thakur, Nayana Bandyopadhyay, and Swati Khandekar. The new roster of state general secretaries includes Babar Ali, Pulak Roy, Ashima Patra, Aroop Biswas, and Rajib Banerjee, signaling an attempt to dilute the influence of those currently sparking dissent.

The unrest is not limited to the legislative wing. A wave of resignations has swept through local civic bodies, with loyalists such as Firhad Hakim and Krishna Chakraborty stepping down from their roles as mayors of the Kolkata and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporations, respectively. Compounding these administrative headaches is a visible surge in public anger against local-level functionaries, leading to the arrest of over a hundred party workers in recent days.

Legal Hurdles and Future Outlook

As the party attempts to navigate this internal rupture, the legal pressure on its top brass is intensifying. With the signature forgery investigation encroaching upon his office, Abhishek Banerjee approached the Calcutta High Court on Friday seeking protection. The legal battle underscores the gravity of the rebellion; what began as a disagreement over the leader of the opposition has morphed into a full-scale institutional crisis that threatens the party’s cohesion.

By appointing the new national joint secretaries and fresh faces at the state level, the TMC leadership is clearly betting on a structural pivot to appease disgruntled party members. Whether these administrative adjustments will be sufficient to pacify the 58 rebel MLAs or if the party will face further splintering remains the central question for Bengal’s political landscape in the coming weeks.