TMC crisis deepens amid uncertainty
Coup or rebellion? Who is behind TMC revolt? | Capital Beat
The discussion examined claims of a rebel faction, questions over a purported letter to the Speaker, and the future of the Trinamool Congress
The discussion focused on reports regarding a list of 19 Lok Sabha MPs that surfaced publicly, claims of a rebel faction within the TMC, and developments linked to the alleged signature forgery case in which Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by investigators.
The panel also examined claims regarding a proposed meeting between the reported rebel MPs and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alongside questions surrounding the future course of action within the TMC.
Purported MPs list
The Federal’s Samir K Purkayastha raised concerns about the authenticity of the reported list of 19 MPs. “At the outset, I would like to give a caveat. We don't know the veracity of this list because this is just a selective leak and that also only a few pages.”
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He noted that it remained unclear whether the document was part of a letter submitted to the Speaker or linked to another communication.
“We don't know whether this is part of the letter written to the Speaker or it is part of another letter.”
Samir said that while questions remained about the document, he was not denying the existence of internal dissent within the TMC. “We are not denying that there is a rebellion within the TMC. That rebellion is genuine.”
Scale of the rebellion
Samir said there was still uncertainty regarding the number of leaders ultimately involved. “This entire rebellion thing is still, you know, how many numbers and these are all conjectures going on.”
He noted that no rebel group had officially released any list publicly. “None of the rebel groups officially released this thing.”
According to him, questions about the strength of the reported faction would only become clearer over time. “We'll have to wait and see how many finally cross sides.”
Political meetings
The discussion also examined meetings involving leaders from different political parties. Samir referred to a meeting involving former TMC leader Rituparna Banerjee and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in New Delhi and subsequent political developments.
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“First Rituparna had a chance meeting with Suvendu Adhikari in Banga Bhawan in New Delhi and after a few days we saw this rebellion.”
He also referred to a meeting held at the residence of Union minister Bhupender Yadav. “The meeting itself took place at the residence of senior BJP leader and minister in the Narendra Modi government.”
Samir argued that there was little ambiguity regarding political involvement behind the developments. “There is no ambiguity as to who is behind this rebellion.”
Opposition politics
Samir also focused on the implications of the developments for opposition politics in West Bengal. “What matters to me is what kind of opposition we are going to see in the future.”
He stressed the importance of democratic accountability and a functioning opposition. “In a democracy, democratic accountability has to be there.”
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Samir described the situation as concerning from the standpoint of opposition politics. “This rebellion within the TMC is weakening this opposition space. That is more worrying.”
Questions on reported claims
Shikha Mukherjee highlighted inconsistencies in the public narrative surrounding the reported developments. “I don't know what to sense because my sensory perceptions are overloaded.”
She pointed to uncertainty regarding a reported letter said to have been submitted to the Speaker's office. “Claims to have delivered a letter to the Speaker's office with all the names and now it seems that the same letter is going to be lodged with the Speaker only on Monday.”
Shikha questioned the basis on which much of the discussion had taken place. “If a letter is going to be submitted on the 15th, then we were talking based on a story which was told to us, which we never saw.”
‘This is a coup’
Shikha drew a distinction between rebellion and what she described as a coup within party structures. “This is a coup. It's not a rebellion.”
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She referred separately to developments involving both Parliamentary and assembly-level factions. “There is a coup in the parliamentary party. There is a separate coup in the assembly legislature party.”
Shikha also questioned changing positions attributed to members of the reported group. “Either you are with the NDA or you are not with the NDA.”
Focus on Mamata, Abhishek
The discussion turned to the political positioning of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Shikha questioned the narrative that the developments were centred solely on Abhishek Banerjee. “I'm not so sure. That's not what they said in their letter.”
She argued that the issue required further clarity. “If the coup is not about Abhishek Banerjee, then what is the coup about?”
Shikha also described Mamata Banerjee as “an iconic leader” while discussing political calculations surrounding leadership questions.
TMC’s perspective
Chandan Ghosh Choudhury described the situation as significant beyond the TMC itself. “It is a very unique crisis.”
He argued that the developments should be viewed in a wider democratic context. “It's not a political crisis for only one party. It's a crisis for democracy.”
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Chandan Ghosh also referred to public discussion regarding a possible merger between political parties while noting that such reports had been denied. “The question of merger has been denied by K C Venugopal yesterday.”
Accountability
Chandan Ghosh stated that many allegations within the political debate had been directed at Abhishek Banerjee. “Most of the accusations are targeted at him.”
He argued that Mamata Banerjee continued to stand by Abhishek Banerjee. “Mamata Banerjee is still standing and her standpoint is very clear that Abhishek Banerjee is still with her.”
Chandan Ghosh also referred to allegations regarding governance and political functioning during the period under discussion. “Abhishek Banerjee had completely taken control of almost the Trinamool party and then finally created his own group.”
Future developments
As the discussion concluded, Shikha reiterated that many claims remained unverified. “There was a letter which was never there. There was a list which was never there.”
She argued that concrete developments would need to be observed directly. “Monday we will have to actually see a line-up.”
Shikha said further clarity would emerge only after formal interactions with the Lok Sabha Speaker. “We will have to see them going to Om Birla's room and we will have to see Om Birla issuing a statement.”The content above has been transcribed from video using a fine-tuned AI model. To ensure accuracy, quality, and editorial integrity, we employ a Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) process. While AI assists in creating the initial draft, our experienced editorial team carefully reviews, edits, and refines the content before publication. At The Federal, we combine the efficiency of AI with the expertise of human editors to deliver reliable and insightful journalism.
