TMC rebel faction announces parallel committee excluding Mamata, Abhishek

A faction within India’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced a 30-member parallel organisational committee, excluding party supremo Mamata Banerjee and senior leader Abhishek Banerjee, in a move that highlights deepening internal rifts following the party’s recent electoral setbacks in West Bengal.

According to Indian media reports, the announcement was made after a meeting of rebel MLAs and former councillors held at a hotel in New Town, Kolkata, on Monday (June 22).

The dissident group declared former minister and Howrah Central MLA Arup Roy as the new chairman of what they described as a reconstituted TMC structure. The faction also replaced Abhishek Banerjee as national general secretary, appointing Ritabrata Banerjee to the post.

The newly announced committee includes senior leaders such as former minister Arup Biswas, Firhad Hakim and Rathin Ghosh as vice presidents, while Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Sabina Yasmin have been named as general secretaries. Akhruzzaman has been appointed treasurer.

Rebel leaders claimed the decision was taken in line with the party constitution, arguing that the national working committee had not been convened since 2022 despite provisions requiring meetings every three years. They said the previous organisational structure had therefore become defunct, necessitating a fresh leadership setup.

The move was swiftly dismissed by the official TMC camp. Party leader Kunal Ghosh, speaking after a meeting at Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kolkata’s Kalighat, rejected the legitimacy of the rebel initiative, saying organisational decisions could only be taken within the party’s authorised framework and that “TMC and Mamata Banerjee are synonymous.”