TMC's Numbers Tell the Story: 58 MLAs Revolt, Only 8 Turn Up for Mamata's Meeting

The numbers are painting a grim picture for Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Barely a month after the party was reduced to 80 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, 58 of its MLAs have openly rebelled, while just eight legislators attended a crisis meeting called by the former chief minister on Friday.

The latest developments have pushed the TMC into its biggest internal crisis since the party was founded by Mamata Banerjee after breaking away from the Congress three decades ago.

The rebellion is being led by expelled TMC legislator Ritabrata Banerjee, who announced on Wednesday that he had been appointed Leader of the Opposition after meeting Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee. The move has triggered a direct challenge to the authority of the party leadership.

Two days later, Mamata Banerjee called a meeting at her residence in Kolkata's Kalighat area to assess the situation. However, according to ANI, only eight non-rebel MLAs attended the meeting. They included Bina Mondal, Ashima Patra, Madan Mitra, Kunal Ghosh, Firhad Hakim, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Biman Banerjee and Ashok Kumar Deb.

Six Members of Parliament also attended the meeting - Dola Sen, Mala Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay. The TMC currently has 28 Lok Sabha MPs and 13 Rajya Sabha MPs.

The rebellion has exposed deep fault lines within the party. Reports indicate that nearly half of the TMC's 34 Muslim legislators have backed Ritabrata Banerjee's camp.

Addressing reporters after meeting the Speaker, Ritabrata claimed his faction now represents the real TMC in the Assembly.

"The TMC legislative party is a team of 58 MLAs who won on the TMC symbol. We are the real TMC now in the Assembly," he said.

The rebel camp has said it wants Mamata Banerjee to remain its "principal adviser" but has ruled out any political engagement with her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who has emerged as the party's second-most powerful leader over the past decade.

The crisis comes at a particularly difficult time for the TMC. When Assembly election results were declared on May 4, the party, which had governed West Bengal for 15 years, was reduced to just 80 seats.

Now, with 58 MLAs backing the rebel faction, questions are being raised over the party leadership's ability to hold the organisation together in the aftermath of its electoral defeat.

Meanwhile, the TMC has decided to challenge the Speaker's decision to recognise Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition.

Senior TMC leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee termed the move illegal and said the party would approach the Calcutta High Court.

"We have decided that the LoP appointed by the Speaker is illegal. We are approaching the Court on Monday. We will file a petition before the High Court," he said after Friday's meeting.

He also accused the BJP of targeting TMC workers and vowed to continue the fight both politically and legally.

"We will fight on the streets, we will fight in Court," Kalyan Banerjee said.