Why is there a rebellion in the Trinamool Congress? | Explained

The story so far:

On June 3, 58 of the 80 MLAs of the Trinamool Congress submitted a letter to the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly supporting the claim of expelled party legislator, Ritabrata Banerjee, to the post of Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly. The Speaker, Rathindra Bose, accepted the claim and appointed the 57-year-old Uluberia Purba MLA as the Leader of the Opposition.

What led to the rebellion?

The appointment marked the beginning of a rebellion in the Trinamool Congress legislature party, as the party leadership wanted Rashbehari MLA and former Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, 82, to be appointed the Leader of the Opposition.

A letter nominating Mr. Chattopadhyay, a 10-time MLA, as the Leader of the Opposition was sent to the Speaker on May 20. However, allegations of signatures of MLAs being forged in the letter surfaced. Two MLAs — Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha — lodged a formal complaint that their signatures had been forged.

An FIR was lodged at Kolkata’s Hare Street Police Station and since the letter was signed by Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the investigation has reached his doorstep. He has been served notice to appear before the investigators.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who justified the Criminal Investigation Department probe by the West Bengal police into the signature scandal, said there was no political vendetta behind the investigation and emphasised that the probe was initiated following complaints by Trinamool MLAs.

On June 1, minutes after the Chief Minister spoke about the investigation, the Trinamool expelled the two MLAs — Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha — for anti-party activities. Within the next two days, the party, which had administered West Bengal for 15 years, faced a rebellion in its legislature party with more than two-third of its MLAs choosing Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition without consulting the party leadership.

What is the nature of rebellion ?

The Trinamool Congress legislature party led by Ritabrata Banerjee has not made any claims to defect to any other party, nor has it announced so far it is starting a new party. Ritabrata Banerjee had said that the faction led by him was the “real” Trinamool Congress legislature party and will serve as a responsible Opposition in the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Though critical of Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the rebel camp continues declaring its loyalty to the party’s founder and chairperson Mamata Banerjee and wants her as the advisor of the legislature party. The rebels, with the support of about 60 MLAs, have also appointed a chief whip and four deputy leaders. About 20 MLAs remain loyalists to Ms. Banerjee and are publicly targeting the rebels for betraying the party chairperson.

What lies ahead?

As far as the crisis in the Trinamool is concerned, the rebellion in the legislature party is in its initial stages. Neither the Trinamool leadership nor the rebel MLAs have sought the intervention of courts. The Budget session of the West Bengal Assembly session is likely to begin from June 22, when it will be clear as to how the rebellion will shape up.

A section of rebels has also started warming up to Ms. Banerjee saying that there cannot be any Trinamool without a party chairperson. The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership has given hints that they are not keen that the rebel Trinamool MLAs join the saffron party, even though the rebel MLAs are participating in the administrative meetings chaired by Mr. Adhikari.

Since most of the anger in the party, which has resulted in a rebellion of party MLAs, is directed at Abhishek Banerjee, Ms. Banerjee on June 5 tried to assuage the anger by creating new posts of national joint secretary and appointing Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen for them. They are to assist the national general secretary.

How have party MPs reacted?

The Trinamool Congress is the second largest party in the Opposition, with 42 MPs in both the Houses of Parliament. While a few MPs have spoken against the party’s leadership, there is no rebellion among the MPs.

What happens next?

Ms. Banerjee’s loyalists say that the Trinamool secured 40% votes in the West Bengal Assembly elections and the party will soon bounce back under her leadership. The concern remains that even meetings called by the party chairperson in the past few days do not make for a full house, with most MPs and MLAs remaining absent.

The fate of the rebellion will depend on whether Ms. Banerjee is able to hold her flock together or not. After the defeat in the polls, both the Trinamool and Ms. Banerjee are facing a crisis of credibility. Hundreds of local-level Trinamool supporters and leaders, which include sitting and former MLAs, have been arrested on charges of corruption, extortion, and post-poll violence in 2021. More than the rebellion and the arrests, it is public anger against corruption, extortion, and the culture of intimidation unleashed by the Trinamool over the past 15 years that is emerging as the biggest concern for the party’s top leadership, threatening the very existence of the party.