New Delhi: Trinamool Congress veteran Sudip Bandyopadhyay joined the party’s rebel camp on Saturday, adding momentum to a growing revolt that has triggered
one of the biggest organisational crises in the party’s recent history.
Bandyopadhyay reached the residence of Union Minister Bhupender Yadav in Delhi along with TMC MP Satabdi Roy. The meeting took place as dissident lawmakers intensified preparations to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday seeking recognition as a separate parliamentary group.
The rebel faction claims the support of 19 Lok Sabha MPs and wants to be recognised as the “real” TMC parliamentary group. The dissidents are also seeking permission to sit alongside MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha.
Rebel camp prepares Speaker move
Rebel MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia said the dissident group had already submitted a representation to the Speaker and would formally press its claim on Monday.
“We have submitted the letter… On Monday, we will go to the Speaker and stake our claim to form the real TMC parliamentary group. We will ask the Speaker to give recognition to our claim,” Basunia told PTI Videos.
Sources in the dissident camp said nearly 20 MPs are expected to arrive in Delhi before the meeting and discuss their future strategy.
TMC rejects dissidents’ claim
The Trinamool Congress dismissed the rebels’ move and argued that it lacks legal validity. Party MP Mahua Moitra said the Constitution’s 91st Amendment removed provisions that previously allowed a split within a political party.
In a post on X, Moitra said lawmakers leaving a party would have to merge with another political party and claimed the number of MPs supporting the rebellion was legally irrelevant.
TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh also called for verification of the signatures circulating on social media by matching them with records available with the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Crisis deepens within TMC
The rebellion began after the party’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections and has since spread from the state unit to Parliament. The TMC currently has 28 Lok Sabha MPs and 13 Rajya Sabha MPs. Three Rajya Sabha members have already resigned.
According to sources close to the dissident camp, the rebel MPs informed the Speaker about forming a separate parliamentary bloc under Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar while extending support to the BJP-led NDA and maintaining a distinct political identity.
TMC MP Kirti Azad accused the BJP of attempting to engineer defections through “Operation Lotus”. He alleged that meetings involving rebel leaders and BJP figures were part of a broader effort to weaken the party, though he claimed the operation had not succeeded so far.
