From INDIA bloc ambitions to revolt at home, Mamata Banerjee faces biggest challenge as 58 of 78 TMC MLAs turn rebel

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New Delhi

In a dramatic escalation of the crisis within the Trinamool Congress, at least 58 of the party’s 78 MLAs have backed a rebel faction and moved against the leadership choice made by Mamata Banerjee for the post of Leader of Opposition, triggering what could become the biggest internal revolt in the party’s history and raising existential questions over her grip on the party she founded.

The rebellion has unfolded at a politically awkward moment for Banerjee. Till last week, she was being projected, and projecting herself, as one of the tallest opposition leaders nationally and a possible face of opposition unity through the INDIA bloc. She had taken the initiative to push for an INDIA bloc meeting expected this week, strengthening efforts to position herself as a national opposition pivot.

The developments in Kolkata now present a sharp contrast. While attempting to expand her national role, Banerjee is battling the biggest internal challenge to her authority since founding the party.

The scale of the revolt itself underlines the seriousness of the crisis. With 58 legislators backing the rebel camp out of the party’s 78 MLAs, nearly three-fourths of the legislature party appears to have moved against the leadership line, transforming what could have been treated as factionalism into a full-scale organisational challenge.

The rebellion centres around the appointment of Sobhondeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition, a decision announced after the Trinamool Congress was pushed to opposition benches following its electoral defeat after 15 years in power. Rebel leaders submitted a letter carrying signatures of 58 MLAs to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose seeking recognition for their faction and proposing expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee for the post instead. The faction has also sought recognition as the “real Trinamool”, fuelling speculation of a formal split.

The developments have also drawn reactions from Congress leaders in the state. Senior Congress leader and former West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suggested that disgruntled Trinamool legislators should join the Congress fold rather than forming a separate bloc, signalling that the party sees an opportunity in the churn within the Trinamool.

Several reasons are being attributed to the scale of this rebellion.

The first is the loss of power itself. Founded in 1998 after Mamata Banerjee broke away from the Congress, the Trinamool Congress spent roughly 13 years building itself before coming to power in West Bengal in 2011 by ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule. Since then, the party functioned continuously from government for around 15 years, meaning a large section of its political class spent most, if not all, of its active political careers within a ruling-party ecosystem rather than in sustained opposition politics.

Political observers argue that the abrupt transition from government to opposition has triggered survival calculations within sections of the party, particularly among legislators, MPs and organisational leaders accustomed to operating from positions of power.

A second factor cited in political circles is the pressure of operating under a BJP-led state government. According to party insiders and rivals, several leaders fear political, administrative and legal pressure while functioning from opposition benches and are attempting to distance themselves from the old power structure.

That distancing, observers say, is particularly visible around Abhishek Banerjee. Multiple insiders and rival leaders claim some legislators do not want to publicly associate themselves with leaders perceived to be close to him amid concerns that such proximity could invite greater scrutiny under the new political order.

Reports emerging from Kolkata and Delhi political circles also point to growing frustration within sections of the organisation over leaders who rose rapidly during the party’s years in power. Rival leaders and party insiders claim several MPs, including Rajya Sabha MPs elevated by the leadership over the years, do not have strong independent organisational bases on the ground despite being given prominent positions within the party structure.

According to these critics, many such leaders were promoted directly by Mamata Banerjee, often over older organisational faces and grassroots workers. While there is no formal exodus involving many of these leaders so far, their relative silence and absence from visible public support for Banerjee during one of the party’s most serious internal crises is increasingly being discussed within political circles.

Banerjee herself has publicly signalled frustration with leaders seen as abandoning the party during difficult times. In recent remarks and political messaging, she attacked turncoats and leaders distancing themselves from the organisation, even releasing a poem comparing such leaders to “girgit” or chameleons, a move political observers see as reflecting growing anxiety within sections of the party leadership over loyalty and internal cohesion.

The rebellion is also being viewed as an attempt by sections of the party to establish a separate identity and, as some insiders describe it, “wash off the TMC taint”.

Politically, the biggest immediate beneficiaries of a weakened Trinamool could be the Congress and the Left. A fractured or substantially weakened TMC could create fresh political space for these parties in a state where they have steadily lost ground over the last decade, particularly as Congress leaders have already publicly encouraged disgruntled Trinamool legislators to join the party.

The crisis has already triggered emergency measures within the party, including organisational restructuring and dissolution of key committees, in what is being seen as an attempt to contain the revolt and reassert control.

Meanwhile, Ritabrata Banerjee claimed on Wednesday that the Speaker had accepted the rebel bloc’s legislature party status and recognised his leadership position, although an official communication from the Assembly was still awaited till late evening.