Mamata faces rebellion as 19 TMC MPs including Saayoni Ghosh join rival camp

The Trinamool Congress has plunged into a fresh crisis following its recent electoral defeat in West Bengal, with at least 19 Lok Sabha MPs reportedly aligning against party chief Mamata Banerjee. According to Indian media reports, the dissident lawmakers have expressed interest in joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

A letter submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker on May 18, bearing the signatures of 19 MPs, reportedly states their desire to separate from the TMC. Notable signatories include Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Satabdi Roy, Saayoni Ghosh, and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan.

Ghosh Dastidar later confirmed that a group of 20 MPs formally sought separate seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha, a public assertion of the deepening divide within the party's parliamentary ranks. Meanwhile, three Rajya Sabha MPs—Prakash Chik Baraik, Sushmita Dev, and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray—have resigned from the Upper House this week.

According to India's anti-defection law, a group requires the support of at least two-thirds of a party's legislators to split without disqualification. The TMC currently has 28 MPs in the Lok Sabha, making 19 the minimum number needed for a valid split. The rebel camp claims to have that number.

TMC leader Kirti Azad has accused the BJP of orchestrating "Operation Lotus"—a term used for poaching opposition lawmakers—to engineer defections, though he claimed the efforts have so far failed. The rebellion is widely seen as a consequence of widening internal power struggles following the party's poor performance in the recent state assembly elections.

Meanwhile, rebel MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has publicly denied authoring a viral letter that triggered fresh political speculation, asserting she had "not written any letter regarding any issue to Hon'ble Chief Minister, West Bengal".