The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday issued notices to the two warring camps of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after a rebel faction delegation led by West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee met the poll body’s full bench, staking claim to the party’s name, symbol and bank accounts.
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The team, which reached Delhi on Wednesday night, included Banerjee’s deputy Sandipan Saha, Javed Ahmed Khan, and Arup Roy — the veteran legislator the rebels named national chairperson after voting Mamata Banerjee out of the post at their June 22 special session. The faction’s lawyers had earlier submitted the session’s resolutions to the ECI.
Out of the TMC’s 80 MLAs in the West Bengal Assembly, the faction claims the support of more than 60 lawmakers, alongside a majority of panchayat and municipal representatives.
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The Mamata Banerjee leadership launched a counteroffensive, questioning the ECI’s decision to grant the rebels a hearing. At a press conference in Delhi, TMC MPs Saugata Roy and Sagarika Ghose accused the Commission of acting at the behest of Union home minister Amit Shah to co-opt the Opposition.
The loyalists argued that the ECI has no jurisdiction to interfere in internal party matters or recognise “expelled” members, demanding to know why independent or rebel MLAs were being given full-bench appointments.
“The Commission has written to both Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee over the claims and counterclaims made by their respective factions regarding the organisational elections and authorised signatories of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). Both sides have been directed to submit their responses by 5:30 pm on Monday, July 6, 2026,” ECI officials said.
Separately, the Kolkata high court, while hearing a petition by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, challenging the debit freeze of the party’s bank accounts, directed the HDFC Bank to disclose the corpus held in those accounts.
