Mamata Banerjee

Launching a blistering counterattack against the rebel faction that has torn the Trinamool Congress apart, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the dissidents of conspiring with the BJP to engineer a split and dared them to formally join the saffron party if they had the courage. In an emotionally charged Facebook Live address, her first since the party plunged into its worst organisational crisis, Banerjee defended her leadership, lashed out at the rebels, vowed to press ahead with the TMC's July 21 Martyrs' Day rally despite administrative hurdles, and declared that while individuals may desert the party, "an institution does not cease to exist". Responding to the allegations, the BJP claimed that leaders were quitting TMC because the cut money, which "acted as its binding glue", has been stopped after the saffron party came to power. "I dare the treacherous and ungrateful traitors who are abandoning the party to directly join the BJP and take me on if they have the .

In yet another setback for the Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress, the party's Bengal state president Chandrima Bhattacharya stepped down from her position on Saturday, barely a month after she was entrusted with the crucial organisational responsibility in the aftermath of the party's assembly election debacle. In a letter addressed to the Trinamool Congress chairperson, Bhattacharya also resigned from all other posts she held in the party, triggering speculations on whether she had severed her ties with the party for all practical purposes. A former minister in the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee government in charge of key departments like Finance and Health as Minister of state, and a prominent leader of the party who led its women's wing Bhattacharya also withdrew herself as the party's authorised signatory of its accounts maintained in various banks and as Mamata Banerjee's authorised point person to appear before the Election Commission. Bhattacharya was named stat

For the first time since the TMC was founded by Mamata Banerjee in 1998, a rebel faction on Monday replaced her as the party chairperson and elected senior MLA Arup Roy to the post, while unveiling a parallel leadership structure. At a special session here, the faction led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee constituted a new national leadership hierarchy, directly challenging the authority of Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the party's national general secretary. The rebellion within the TMC crossed a political Rubicon as dissident leaders moved beyond challenging the leadership and sought to remake the organisation itself, projecting their camp as the legitimate continuation of the party. Held at a hotel here, the 31-minute special session brought together rebel MLAs, former councillors and party functionaries from across the state. The political messaging was unmistakable. While the TMC's twin-flower symbol remained prominently displayed, portraits

The internecine war within the TMC took a new turn on Thursday with "party treasurer" Aroop Biswas writing to a bank seeking restrictions on the operation of the party's accounts, citing uncertainty over its legitimate leadership amid rebellions and splits by MLAs and MPs. The move is being seen as a fresh setback for the camp led by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, coming days after dissident MLAs and MPs challenged the authority of the Trinamool Congress's central leadership following the party's defeat in the assembly polls, and staked claim to being the "real" TMC. A two-page letter, addressed to the manager of a private bank's Central Plaza branch in Kolkata, made rounds on social media, though PTI could not independently verify its authenticity. The bank did not respond to queries, while calls and text messages to Biswas, a former minister and once considered a loyalist of Banerjee, remained unanswered. According to the letter dated June 12, Biswas sought maintenance of

Speaking to the media, he confirmed that he had submitted his resignation letter to Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to accept his resignation from the primary membership of the party

In a dramatic pre-dawn operation that triggered a political storm in West Bengal, a large contingent of police, accompanied by central forces, raided the Kalighat residence of TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday in connection with a case filed in a police station in Paschim Medinipur district, a senior officer said. The development came barely two days after the West Bengal CID questioned Banerjee in connection with the alleged forged-signature case linked to the state assembly and amid a series of fresh summons issued to him by multiple investigating agencies. According to local sources, police teams, including officers from Paschim Medinipur's Salboni Police Station and Kolkata Police, arrived outside Banerjee's Patuapara residence shortly after 3 am. Central force personnel took positions outside the premises while police officers attempted to enter the house. The TMC alleged that the police teams broke open the lock and entered Banerjee's premises. The

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told INDIA bloc leaders earlier this week that going by the anger among the people, the next general election is "already won" but the main problem is that there won't be a free and fair election to win. At the meeting of the INDIA bloc on Monday, he also gave a clarion call to the leaders to stay united, saying it is easy to beat the BJP "if we stand together and resist". Gandhi also responded to the criticism of the Congress by its allies, including the Left parties, by referring to the "blue-necked one (Shiva) who drinks all the poison", and said whatever criticism they have of him or his party will be accepted with a smile on the face. Gandhi on Friday put out on his social media accounts his over nine-minutes speech that he made at the meeting where the INDIA bloc constituents stressed on unity against the BJP. On Monday, the INDIA bloc members unanimously decided to demand Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's immediate resignation over the ...

Meetings between Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi spark speculation, but both parties deny any merger plans

Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev on Wednesday resigned as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the second TMC MP to resign this week. Dev, a former Congress leader who had joined the TMC a few years ago, met Rajya Sabha chairman C P Radhakrishnan and resigned from the membership of the House. She is the second MP of the TMC to resign this week. Earlier, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray had tendered his resignation from the party as well as the Rajya Sabha. Sources said Dev is likely to quit the TMC and join the BJP. She has also met Assam chief minister Humanta Biswa Sarma. In her resignation letter, she said, "I do hereby resign from the membership of Rajya Sabha, which may please be accepted with immediate effect." "I convey my sincere gratitude to your excellency, hon'ble deputy chairman and all functionaries of the Rajya Sabha secretariat extending all help and cooperation during my tenure as a member of the Rajya Sabha," Dev said in the letter to the Chairman. The Trinamool Congress is facing

A CID team on Tuesday entered Trinamool Congress's central party office-cum-residence of party supremo Mamata Banerjee in Kalighat area here, after a brief standoff with security personnel and a party leader, as a part of its probe into the controversy surrounding alleged forged signatures of TMC MLAs, which has triggered a split in the party. Officials of the state investigating agency, accompanied by personnel from the Kalighat police station and a large contingent of women police personnel, arrived at the party's central office at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street around late afternoon, sources said. The CID's move comes days after the agency served notices seeking information related to the alleged forging of signatures of TMC legislators on a proposal submitted to the Assembly Speaker for recognition of the Leader of Opposition. According to CID officials present at the spot, the search was sought on the basis of a reply submitted by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee

TMC's split after its poll defeat has weakened Bengal's Opposition, potentially giving the BJP greater political space and a freer hand to push its agenda

For a politician who built her career on defiance, resilience and an instinctive understanding of Bengal's political pulse, the past month -- the one that marks the aftermath of the West Bengal Assembly election results -- has been nothing short of a political earthquake for Mamata Banerjee. Exactly a month ago, Banerjee remained the undisputed face of the Trinamool Congress, commanding a formidable legislative force. But the party's crushing electoral defeat at the hands of the BJP dramatically altered the political landscape. The setback was made more personal by her own loss from Bhabanipur to her archrival and, as most would like to qualify, her nemesis -- Suvendu Adhikari -- from a constituency long regarded as her political fortress. The poll results shrank the TMC's strength in the Assembly to 80 MLAs, leaving Banerjee to lead the opposition from a position of unprecedented weakness. The party had 215 MLAs in the 2021 state polls. Yet, what appeared to be a devastating ...

Expelled TMC leader Ritabrata Banerjee on Wednesday said the West Bengal Assembly speaker had accepted the rebel camp's bid to be recognised as the party's legislature wing and urged Mamata Banerjee to serve as its chief adviser. This came after 58 dissident MLAs backed legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, who has been expelled from the TMC, as the leader of the legislature party and conveyed their decision to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose. The latest development effectively placed the control of the TMC's legislative party in the hands of dissidents and marked the most serious challenge yet to the authority of the party leadership following its defeat in the recent assembly polls. Addressing a press conference in the Assembly after meeting the Speaker, Ritabrata Banerjee said his camp had submitted the signatures of 58 MLAs elected on the TMC symbol and "our claim has been accepted by the Speaker". Claiming that a clear majority of the party's legislators were now behind him, he asser

As many as 58 dissident TMC MLAs backed expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of the legislature party and conveyed their decision to West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose on Wednesday, a move that could redraw the opposition's power structure in the House. Sources said that Banerjee, along with fellow rebel MLA Sandipan Saha and several dissident legislators, met the Speaker and submitted letters of support signed by 58 MLAs. They also proposed a new leadership team, naming Banerjee as the legislature party leader, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Shiuli Saha as deputy leaders, and Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman as the chief whip. Under the anti-defection law, a breakaway faction requires the support of at least two-thirds of a legislature party to avoid disqualification. With the TMC having 80 MLAs in the Assembly, the threshold stands at 54. If the rebel camp's claim is accepted, it would comfortably cross that mark and strengthen its case for recognition as a .

The focus on MSMEs has not translated into meaningful capital formation, which sustains industrial growth and employment

On a humid Saturday evening, barely hours after Suvendu Adhikari took oath as West Bengal's first BJP chief minister at the Brigade Parade Grounds, the mood at several TMC offices across the state was marked by disbelief and unease. At a party office in south Bengal, workers sat silently before television screens replaying saffron celebrations. Tea cups remained untouched and conversations repeatedly returned to one question: what remains of the political machine Mamata Banerjee built over the past 28 years -- the first 13 years in opposition and the last 15 years in power? For the TMC, the crisis unfolding now is no longer merely electoral. It is structural, psychological and existential. The first signs of internal strain surfaced almost immediately after the verdict. Leaders who defended the party leadership until days ago have begun speaking in divergent voices, exposing fault lines long buried beneath uninterrupted electoral dominance. Veteran TMC leader Asit Mazumdar accused

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday appealed to all opposition parties in West Bengal to come together to form a "joint platform" to fight the BJP which came to power in the state after the recently held assembly elections. The former chief minister also called upon the student unions of various affiliations opposed to the BJP and the NGOs to unite against the saffron camp. "I call upon all opposition parties, including the Leftists and the ultra-Left, to come together to form a joint platform against the BJP," Banerjee said, also calling upon national parties to join. The TMC chief said that she will talk with any political party if they want to hold a dialogue with her in this regard. "It is not the time to think the enemy's enemy is my friend, our first enemy is the BJP," she said, while addressing a small gathering in front of her Kalighat residence on Rabindranath Tagore's birth anniversary. She claimed that atrocities were being committed against TMC worke

Questioning the credibility of the electoral process in the West Bengal assembly polls, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday accused the Election Commission of acting in a "partisan" manner and alleged large-scale irregularities during the elections won by the BJP. In his first social media post after the declaration of results, Banerjee said the TMC would continue to be a "strong, vocal and uncompromising opposition" both in West Bengal and at the Centre. "Throughout this entire process, we witnessed what we believe was deeply partisan conduct by several government agencies as well as the Election Commission of India," Banerjee said in a post on X. "Democratic institutions that are meant to function impartially appeared compromised, raising serious concerns about the fairness, credibility and transparency of the electoral process in West Bengal," the Diamond Harbour MP wrote. Stating that the TMC fought an extremely difficult election where "nearly 30 lakh genuine voter

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