TMC Unrest: Tensions continue to mount for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) following a crushing defeat in the recenlty held assembly polls as rebel MPs indicated that they may soon stake
a claim to the party’s name and election symbol, potentially triggering a legal battle.
A day after 20 dissident TMC lawmakers announced their merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), rebel MP Arup Chakraborty asserted that the breakaway faction had not abandoned the TMC but was attempting to “rectify” the party. He asserted that the group would seek recognition as the real TMC and stake claim to its iconic twin-flower election symbol.
“We have not left TMC; we’re in TMC and trying to rectify the party. Why did it get damaged, that is not being discussed. We will fight for the party symbol; we have 20 members, why should we not fight for the symbol,” Chakraborty said as quoted by news agency PTI, adding that a “new game” had begun in West Bengal politics.
“A new game has started… ‘Khela Hobe’,” he added, claiming that the move would bring development and employment to West Bengal.
However, the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit termed the move illegal under the anti-defection law.
Last week on Sunday, 20 rebel TMC MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and announced that they were merging with the NCPI, a Tripura-based registered unrecognised political party. The group also sought a separate seating arrangement in Parliament.
Attacking the TMC chief, Chakraborty said, “Mamata Banerjee is scared; she can’t even call a meeting of the party. She could not even hold a meeting in her constituency before the election.” Chakraborty also said that Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were the “leaders” of their group.
Senior rebel leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said that the faction would approach the courts to establish itself as the “real” TMC and claim ownership of the party’s symbol.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC strongly opposed the move, arguing that it violates the anti-defection law. Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule makes it clear that a political party itself must merge or split before legislators can seek protection from disqualification.
In a post on X, Ghose said, “Massive false information is being circulated on the 2/3rds majority and anti-defection law. The 10th Schedule and the Supreme Court have made it amply clear.
“It is the political party outside Parliament (not the party representatives sitting inside Parliament) which must first split or merge, and then after this condition, the people inside do not attract the anti-defection law if 2/3rds choose to break away,” she said.
Veteran TMC leader Saugata Roy accused the rebel MPs of betraying the mandate on which they were elected and maintained that the All India Trinamool Congress remains under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
“Twenty MPs elected on TMC symbol decided to betray their voters by joining an obscure party, some National(ist) Citizens Party of India, illegally, declaring their support for the NDA under Modi.” “They obviously did this to avoid the provisions of Schedule 10(4) of the Constitution. People are watching this news,” he said.
The political battle is also unfolding in the West Bengal Assembly, where 64 of the party’s 80 MLAs recently broke away and secured recognition as a separate legislative formation. The Mamata Banerjee-led camp has challenged that decision before the Calcutta High Court.
With rival camps now preparing for legal and political confrontations, the dispute over the TMC’s name, symbol and organisational control appears set to intensify in the coming weeks.
