A 10-member delegation of the dissident faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is likely to meet the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi on Thursday to demand the party’s election symbol and bank accounts.
“We have an appointment with the entire Election Commission of India at the Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi at 12 noon on Thursday. They (ECI) have allowed a 10-member delegation. We are the All India Trinamool Congress. After we held a special session on June 22, we informed the poll panel and asked for an appointment with the ECI,” Banerjee said at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) in Kolkata before departing for Delhi.
The rebel lawmakers, recognized by West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathendra Nath Bose as the main opposition party in the House, on June 27 held their second meeting with former Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) members in a week, signaling a renewed challenge to Mamata Banerjee’s leadership ahead of the civic polls.
MLA Arup Roy, who was a minister in the TMC government from 2011 to 2026, has been appointed as the chairman of the new National Working Committee.
The rebel faction later went to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal to submit a letter demanding recognition as the official All India Trinamool Congress and asserting its right to the party’s electoral symbol.
Meanwhile, TMC National Joint Secretary Dula Sen lodged complaints at New Town and Pragati Maidan police stations, alleging “forgery of party symbol and impersonation of All India Trinamool Congress”. The complaints also accused the rebel camp of distributing “forged electronic documents/communications” and holding “unauthorized meetings.”
“This is sponsored by the BJP. Those who wanted to defeat the TMC in Bengal are sponsored by them (rebel leaders). The rebel leaders have won TMC tickets. They are traitors. Those who have moved to the rebel camp have several cases pending against them. They have all switched sides to evade the law. The BJP is using them to trouble the TMC,” said Kunal Ghosh, a TMC legislator from Mamata Banerjee’s camp.
BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar responded, saying: “The BJP has no interest in this. Why should we care to know which faction of the TMC will meet with whom? What do the people of West Bengal have to do with this? The Election Commission of India will decide.”
