West Bengal Tmc Split Mamata Abhishek Banerjee Ritabrata Rebellion

A month since getting voted out of power in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is staring at a split, a rapid disintegration for a party that won 41% of the votes in the elections. The rumblings had started on May 4 itself as it became clear that the pa... A month since getting voted out of power in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is staring at a split, a rapid disintegration for a party that won 41% of the votes in the elections. The rumblings had started on May 4 itself as it became clear that the party was set to lose, with some party leaders appearing to criticise the leadership. But it was still not a full-throated revolt yet. The first signs of dissent came two days later at a meeting at party chief Mamata Banerjee’s residence, when the former CM asked all the MLAs present to stand up and give a standing ovation to her nephew and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee. Also Read | Is TMC headed for a split? Talk of ‘secret meetings’, ‘Maharashtra model’ adds to buzz “Mamata Banerjee was not ready to accept defeat. When she asked us to stand up, many senior MLAs did not do so, but they also said nothing,” said one MLA. There was also unease over the leadership’s decision not to act against its Falta strongman Jahangir Khan, seen as close to Abhishek, after he withdrew his name from the repoll in his constituency without consulting the party. “Not only that, the leadership, especially Abhishek Banerjee, was so arrogant. Even after such a humiliating defeat, when asked about what the party was doing about Jahangir Khan, he just said, ‘See the party’s tweet.’ Mamata Banerjee also announced she would not resign as CM. After that, the seeds of the rebellion were laid,” said a senior TMC MLA. Also Read | Falta votes twice: Inside a TMC bastion set for a rare full repoll, and a strongman’s shadow TMC sources said that is when the rebel MLAs started coordinating and laying the groundwork for the revolt. At the centre of the plot was Uluberia Purba MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee, who has been recognised by the Speaker as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP). The plan gathered momentum last week after Ritabrata visited Delhi, where he met Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, a source said. “After Ritabrata returned from Delhi, the plan gathered pace. Ritabrata convened one meeting after another at the MLAs’ hostel and in a private hotel of Kolkata. All the MLAs started receiving calls to unite against leadership that had largely been mum and not proactive. However, our main target was Abhishek Banerjee. We are not against Mamata Banerjee, but we can’t accept Abhishek’s leadership anymore,” said a rebel MLA. Things came to a head during the signature forgery controversy. While the TMC leadership submitted a letter to the Speaker’s office designating Sobhabdeb Chattopadhyay as LoP, Nayona Bandyopadhyay and Ashima Patra as Deputy LoPs, and