TMC Rebel Ritabrata Banerjee's Faction Meets ECI

 in Delhi Over Party Control

Report By Y-Trendz

New Delhi, July 2, 2026 — The battle for control of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has reached a critical juncture, with a 10-member delegation from the rebel faction led by West Bengal Leader of the

Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee meeting the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) at the poll body's New Delhi headquarters on Thursday. The delegation, which travelled to the capital from Kolkata on Wednesday evening, is pressing its case to be recognised as the legitimate Trinamool Congress, with control of the party's organisation, election symbol and finances all at stake.

The meeting was scheduled for noon with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the other election commissioners, after the rebel camp sought an appointment earlier in the week and received confirmation within a day. Banerjee, the face of the dissident TMC faction, led the delegation, which also included his deputy Sandipan Saha, veteran legislator Arup Roy and MLA Javed Ahmed Khan.

Origins of the Split

The rift within Trinamool Congress traces back to the party's defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, after which the Ritabrata-led faction began asserting that it represented the "real" TMC. Tensions came to a head on June 22, when rebel MLAs convened a special session at a Kolkata hotel and adopted a voice vote removing Mamata Banerjee as party chairperson. The gathering elected veteran legislator and Howrah Central MLA Arup Roy as the new party chief, while also suspending Mamata Banerjee's nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee from his post as national general secretary.

The rebel camp has argued that the three-year tenure of the party's national working committee, constituted in February 2022, had expired, creating what it described as a constitutional vacuum under the party's internal charter. Acting on that basis, the faction formed a new 30-member national working committee along with a 10-member sub-committee, and formally submitted the resolution and accompanying legal documents to the Election Commission through a team of lawyers.

Numbers and Counter-Claims

According to figures cited by the rebel camp, Trinamool Congress currently has 80 MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly, of which around 60 are said to have aligned with the Ritabrata-led faction, leaving roughly 20 with what the rebels term the "original but minority" faction that remains loyal to Mamata Banerjee. The rebel group contends that this numerical strength — which it says translates into a decisive lead in vote share terms as well — bolsters its claim to be recognised as the authentic party organisation before the Commission.

The Mamata Banerjee-led camp has firmly rejected these claims, submitting its own national working committee list to the Election Commission and maintaining that it continues to be the legitimate Trinamool Congress. The party, which Mamata Banerjee founded in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress, now finds itself in a bitter contest over its name, organisational structure, legislative wing and political identity, with both sides staking claim to the party's twin-flower ("jora ghas phool") election symbol.

What the Rebel Faction Is Seeking

Ahead of the meeting, Banerjee said the delegation had been granted permission to bring a 10-member team representing its collective leadership to present its case to the EC's full bench, and thanked the Commission for accommodating the request. Deputy leader Sandipan Saha said the delegation intended to discuss the letter it had earlier sent to the EC regarding the formation of the new national working committee. According to sources within the faction, the group is expected to formally urge the Commission to recognise it as the legitimate Trinamool Congress and to hand it custodianship of the party's symbol and bank accounts.

Earlier in the week, some rebel TMC leaders had already met officials at the office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer, submitting a representation seeking formal recognition as the official party and requesting control of the election symbol at the state level as well.

Political Fallout

The dispute has drawn sharp reactions from within the party's ranks. Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh, a Mamata Banerjee loyalist, suggested that a perception was being created that defectors would face no consequences from law enforcement, implying that some of those switching allegiance may be doing so out of self-interest tied to unrelated legal concerns rather than genuine political conviction.

With the Election Commission now formally seized of competing claims from both camps, Thursday's hearing is expected to be a significant step in determining which faction will ultimately be recognised as the official Trinamool Congress — a decision with major implications for West Bengal's political landscape ahead of future electoral contests.