Kolkata:
The rebel faction within the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Ritabrata Banerjee has taken control of the party’s main office in Kolkata’s Metropolitan area. The group, accompanied by several MLAs including Firhad Hakim, Sandipan Saha, Javed Khan and party treasurer Akruzzaman, entered the premises, changed the locks on the gates, put up new posters and held a meeting inside.
They declared that they would operate from the building as the party’s headquarters. Akruzzaman said that the Trinamool Congress has an emotional attachment to the office. He said the agreement with the owners had been completed and that all organisational work would now be conducted from there.
The rebels also put up a poster on the front gate identifying senior MLA Arup Roy as chairman of the All India Trinamool Congress. Photographs and cut-outs of Mamata Banerjee inside the building were left in place.
Ritabrata Banerjee said the faction would formally begin functioning from the office from Saturday. “We are the Trinamool Congress. This is our headquarters,” he stated.
The office has served as the Trinamool’s operational headquarters since 2022, after the party moved there during reconstruction of its original premises.
The action came a day after Ritabrata Banerjee and his associates visited Delhi to meet the full bench of the Election Commission. The delegation pressed its claims over the party’s name, symbol, organisational structure and assets.
After Thursday’s meeting with the rebel delegation, the Election Commission wrote to both factions asking them to submit documents and counter-claims on organisational elections, authorised signatories and control of the party by 5:30 pm on July 6.
As news of the takeover spread, Trinamool MLAs loyal to Mamata Banerjee arrived at the office. They found the gates locked and were unable to enter. Senior Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh described the episode as unfortunate. He said any MLA of the party has the right to come to the party office and questioned why locks were being put up.
“If Trinamool workers are being attacked and need support, these people do not go to their constituencies. Instead, they have become puppets in someone else’s hands and are doing all this,” Ghosh said.
The Mamata Banerjee camp also alleged that the takeover had the tacit support of the state administration and police. The dissidents rejected the charge.
Last month, the dissidents held a special session and elected Arup Roy as chairperson while announcing a parallel national leadership structure. Fifty-eight of the party’s 80 MLAs had earlier backed Ritabrata Banerjee’s claim to the post of Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, rejecting the official nominee. The rebel camp now says it has the support of around 65 legislators.
Twenty of the Trinamool’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have broken away, merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and aligned with the BJP-led NDA. Several other senior leaders have distanced themselves from the Mamata Banerjee camp.
The dispute also involves the party’s finances and assets, with both sides claiming the Trinamool Congress name, symbol and institutional structure.
