In a dramatic escalation of internal strife, rebels within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday declared that they had removed Mamata Banerjee from her position as party chief and elected senior West Bengal lawmaker Arup Roy as her successor. The dissident faction, led by Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee, announced a parallel leadership structure and said it would next approach the Election Commission (EC) to stake claim to the party's official symbol—the twin flowers.
Rebel gathering and new leadership
The declaration came after what the rebels described as a special session of the TMC, convened at a hotel in Kolkata. According to the dissident camp, over 500 party leaders attended, including former and sitting MLAs as well as TMC councillors. At this gathering, they claimed to have removed both Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who serves as the party's national general secretary, from their posts. A new national working committee was formed, with Arup Roy, a one-time close aide of Mamata, named as the new party chief by a voice vote.
Among those included in the new working committee are Firhad Hakim, the party's minority heavyweight and a former Mamata loyalist; Aroop Biswas; Biplab Mitra; Akhruzzaman Ansari; Sabina Yasmin; Sandipan Saha; Rathin Ghosh; Javed Khan; and Ritabrata Banerjee himself. The venue was adorned with the TMC's twin-flower symbol, alongside portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and B.R. Ambedkar. Mamata Banerjee was notably absent from the proceedings.
Constitutional crisis cited
Addressing the gathering, Ritabrata Banerjee argued that the TMC was facing a “constitutional crisis.” He pointed to Article 20 of the party's constitution, which mandates the formation of a national working committee every three years. “The last national working committee was constituted on February 12, 2022, and its tenure ended on February 11 this year. Since no fresh committee was formed thereafter, it has become necessary to reconstitute the party’s organisational structure,” he said. This, according to the rebels, justified their actions to install a new leadership.
Next steps: Election Commission
The dissident faction has signaled that its next move will be to approach the Election Commission to formally claim the TMC's electoral symbol—the twin flowers. Control of the symbol is crucial for any faction to contest elections under the party banner. The move sets the stage for a legal and political battle with Mamata Banerjee's camp, which currently controls the party machinery and the state government.
The developments mark one of the most serious challenges to Mamata Banerjee's leadership since she founded the TMC in 1998 after breaking away from the Indian National Congress. The party has been the ruling force in West Bengal since 2011, with Mamata serving as Chief Minister. The internal rebellion could have significant implications for the party's future, especially with upcoming elections in the state.
