Trinamul Congress Faces Major Internal Revolt; Mamata and Abhishek Challenged
The Trinamul Congress is witnessing a major internal rebellion as a faction of MLAs moves to remove Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee from top party positions, citing constitutional violations. The party leadership has dismissed the move as theatrics.
Highlights
- •Dissident TMC MLAs have announced the removal of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee from key party positions.
- •The rebel faction claims the support of 60 MLAs and 70 former councilors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
- •The revolt stems from alleged violations of the party constitution regarding the frequency of national executive meetings.
- •The TMC leadership has dismissed the move as a 'comedy show' and issued show-cause notices to the rebel leaders.
In a significant political upheaval within West Bengal, the Trinamul Congress (TMC) is facing a major internal crisis that threatens the leadership of party supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, MP Abhishek Banerjee. Less than two months after the party lost power in the state, a faction of dissenting TMC legislators has launched a formal challenge to their authority, aiming to remove them from crucial organizational roles.
Internal Revolt Challenges TMC Leadership
The dissident group, fronted by the Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, organized a special session to declare the ouster of Mamata Banerjee as the party’s founder-chairperson. Furthermore, they announced that Abhishek Banerjee has been removed as the national general secretary and suspended from the organization entirely. This TMC internal revolt has sent shockwaves through the political landscape of West Bengal.
The rebel camp claims to hold the backing of 60 MLAs and 70 former councilors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. During their meeting held at a hotel in New Town, the dissidents asserted their actions were compliant with the party's governing constitution. Notably, the stage decor conspicuously lacked the usual portraits of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, displaying instead images of historical figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and B.R. Ambedkar.
Restructuring the Party Organization
The rebels justified their mutiny by alleging that the party leadership breached Section 20 of the TMC constitution. They claimed that the leadership failed to organize a national executive committee meeting after 2022, despite the constitutional requirement for such gatherings to occur every three years. Consequently, they adopted a resolution to dissolve the existing national executive committee and established a new 30-member panel.
As part of this organizational restructuring, the position of chairman was assigned to Howrah Central MLA and former minister Arup Roy. Meanwhile, Aroop Biswas was named vice-president alongside Firhad Hakim and Rathin Ghosh. The new lineup also identified four general secretaries, including Ritabrata Banerjee, Sandipan Saha, Javed Ahmed Khan, and Sabina Yasmin, while Akhruzzaman was appointed as the treasurer.
Ritabrata Banerjee stated that the group would inform the Election Commission regarding the proceedings of the special session. He added that they intend to form new district committees, a state unit, and a spokesperson panel. Conversely, the existing TMC leadership, led by Kunal Ghosh, labeled the developments as a theatrical display, dismissing the rebel gathering as illegitimate and asserting that the party remains firmly aligned with Mamata Banerjee. The original leadership has already initiated disciplinary action by issuing show-cause notices to the dissident leaders.
