amata Banerjee faces growing TMC rebellion as MLAs skip meeting; party to challenge Ritabrata's LoP post. Photo: ANI
Mamata Banerjee is facing heat from her own party members with each passing day, bringing more trouble for the former Chief Minister. On Friday, only eight MLAs attended a meeting at her home in Kalighat, Kolkata. The eight MLAs who did not attend the meet included Bina Mondal, Ashima Patra, Madan Mitra, Kunal Ghosh, Firhad Hakim, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Biman Banerjee, and Ashok Kumar Deb, according to ANI. Also, only six MPs from the party attended the meeting, which included Dola Sen, Mala Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay.. TMC has 23 MPs in Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha. Earlier, 60 out of the 80 MLAs skipped a key meeting called by the party as it faces a rebellion internally. The party later clarified that it was a National Working Committee, adding that not all MLAs and MPs were invited to the meeting. Recently, 58 MLAs of the party openly rebelled, staking claim over the Leader of Opposition post in the state Assembly.
The rebellion against TMC founder Mamata Banerjee is led by now-expelled party MLA Ritabrata Banerjee. On Wednesday, Ritabrata announced that he was appointed leader of the Opposition after meeting the speaker of the assembly. Ritabrata was earlier with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 2017 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the TMC in 2024. He is reportedly supported by 34 Muslim lawmakers of the TMC.
The mutiny has triggered a furious war of words regarding legal validity, with the traditional party core claiming that several signatures were actively forged. The architects of the rebellion have executed a highly strategic manoeuvre: they are viciously amputating Abhishek Banerjee from the party structure while maintaining a public posture of absolute loyalty to party matriarch Mamata Banerjee.
Speaking to reporters, Ritabrata Banerjee launched a direct assault on the party’s national general secretary. “Abhishek Banerjee will have absolutely no role in it. Neither our legislative party nor the party organisation has any connection whatsoever with him. The people of Bengal have absolutely no connection with him.”
Despite hijacking her legislature party, rebels insist Mamata remains their leader. The 58-member group formally requested her to step into a ceremonial role. “We want Mamata Banerjee to be our chief advisor, to give us advice that will help us in strengthening our position as the opposition,” Ritabrata added.
Following the meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee termed the appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly as ‘illegal.’ He announced that the party intends to move the Calcutta High Court to challenge the legality of the appointment.
“We have decided that the LoP appointed by the Speaker is illegal. We are approaching the Court against this on Monday. We will file a petition before the High Court,” Banerjee told reporters.
TMC MP further alleged that the party would initiate legal action regarding the reported killings of TMC workers by their BJP counterparts. He also declared that the TMC will challenge the alleged registration of “false cases” against its party members.
“We will fight against the manner in which the BJP is killing TMC workers and lodging false cases against them. We will fight on the streets, we will fight in Court,” added Banerjee.
Banerjee also announced that TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen will assist the party’s National General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, in his organisational duties. He further stated that state-level leaders will provide their inputs, based on which new party committees will be constituted.
“At the state level, leaders will give suggestions, and based on those, committees will be formed.Chandrima Bhattacharya has been appointed President. Sajda Ahmed, Mamata Thakur, Nayana Bandyopadhyay and Swati Khandekar appointed vice presidents of West Bengal Pradesh Trinamool Congress,” added Banerjee.
(With inputs from ANI)
Also Read: Is Firhad Hakim Joining BJP? Big Blow To TMC As Kolkata Mayor Resigns
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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