Rebel lawmakers from the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) met with BJP leaders in Delhi on Sunday to coordinate a bid for separate parliamentary recognition.
This movement signals a deepening rift within the TMC, potentially stripping party chief Mamata Banerjee of legislative support and altering the balance of power in the Lok Sabha.
The group of rebel MPs, including Prasun Banerjee, Mala Roy, Satabdi Roy, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Arup Chakraborty, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, and Sayoni Ghosh, met with Union Minister Bhupender Yadav (BJP) at his Delhi residence [1, 2]. Following this meeting, the lawmakers were expected to visit Banga Bhavan before proceeding to the office of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla [1, 2].
The rebels plan to submit a letter of support to the Speaker on Monday, June 15, seeking official recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc [1, 3]. This move follows a broader collapse of party discipline, with reports indicating that nearly 100 councillors have already quit the TMC [2].
There are conflicting reports regarding the size of the rebel faction. Some sources said that 20 rebel MPs will meet the Speaker [3], while Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said the faction has the backing of 22 MPs [4].
Sudip Bandyopadhyay aligned himself with the rebel camp on Sunday, June 14 [5]. Bandyopadhyay said he supports an advisory role for Mamata Banerjee, though the faction continues to seek leverage against her leadership amid the ongoing internal crisis [5, 3].
“Rebel lawmakers from the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) met with BJP leaders in Delhi”
The coordination between TMC rebels and BJP leadership suggests a strategic alignment that could weaken the TMC's standing in Parliament. By seeking a separate bloc, the rebels are attempting to bypass party leadership and secure official legislative status, which would formalize the split and potentially diminish Mamata Banerjee's influence over her party's national representation.
