After Assembly, Mamata to Lose Grip in Parliament?

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is facing an unprecedented existential crisis following a crushing defeat in the recently held Assembly elections, leading to a vertical split among its legislative ranks. Over 58 of the total 80 MLAs elected, raised a rebellion appointing expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly.

The turmoil in the party’s state unit soon spread to the national level. Nearly 20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs moved to Delhi, seeking to align with the BJP-led NDA. While TMC chief Mamata Banerjee travelled to the national capital to take part in the INDIA bloc meeting this morning to discuss a roadmap to take on the BJP, the TMC’s mutiny headed to New Delhi indicating that her own party was coming apart at the seams.

This morning, TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy quit the party. He was the party’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha for 13 years. In a few hours, he went into a huddle with five TMC Lok Sabha MPs, leading to speculation of more trouble in the party’s parliamentary wing, which already had suffered a rebellion in the party’s legislative ranks.

Afterwards, West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari met nearly 20 Lok Sabha MPs of the TMC at Union minister Bhupender Yadav’s residence. Yadav is the key strategist for the 2026 Bengal elections.

The rebel MPs are being led by veteran TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who had quit all party posts last month, soon after she was replaced as the party’s chief whip in LS. Dastidar, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, said 20 MPs, including her, had decided to write to LA Assembly Speaker Om Birla conveying their desire to join the NDA.

While the MLAs and MPs openly showed their dissidence with the party leadership, a few lower rung party leaders, like councilors, faced the wrath of the people when they visited the people in the local bodies. One of the TMC councilor was tonsured and a garland of chappals was worn around his neck and paraded through the streets, in protest against his rampant corruption.

Reportedly, before Mamata headed to Delhi, she turned down first-time MLA Ritabrata’s offer of joining hands and sidelining her nephew Abishek Banerjee. It is learnt that though Mamata did not sideline Abhishek, she clipped his wings and limited his influence over organizational affairs.

Now, Abhishek is not the sole national general secretary of the party, as two more additional general secretaries have been appointed. Recently, Mamata’s nephew was attacked during his visit to Sonarpur, with stones, shoes and eggs being hurled at him. Protesters raised ‘thief, thief” slogans, hit him and tore his shirt, forcing him to wear a cricket helmet with visor for protection. The next day, another TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee was also attacked by protesters.

In addition, Abhishek was summoned by the CID regarding a forged signature controversy involving nomination documents in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

TMC and the party Chief Mamata Banerjee have plunged into political turmoil, which is likely to deepen in the next few days. After a 15-year political dominance in West Bengal, the TMC is facing its biggest political setback.