Nineteen Trinamool Congress parliamentarians, among them Yusuf Pathan, Saayoni Ghosh and Shatrughan Sinha, have reportedly backed a list of dissenters as internal party tensions reached the national legislature. Sources indicate the party may face a major division. This parliamentary revolt follows a large-scale defiance in the West Bengal assembly and poses the strongest challenge yet to Mamata Banerjee’s leadership since the party began. It could reshape the party’s position in both Kolkata and New Delhi. The MPs named in the rebel group are Shatrughan Sinha from Asansol, Kakoli Ghosh from Barasat, Jagdish Chandra Basunia from Cooch Behar, Khalil ur Rehman from Jangipur, Yusuf Pathan from Behrampur, Abu Tahir Khan from Murshidabad, Partha Bhumik from Barrackpore, Bapi Haldar from Mathurapur, Saayoni Ghosh from Jadavpur, Mala Roy from Kolkata South, Mitali Bag from Aarambagh, Deepak Adhikari from Ghatal, Kalipada Soren from Jhalgram, June Malia from Medinipur, Aroop Chakraborty from Bankura, Sharmila Sarkar from Vardhaman East, Asit Kumar Mall from Bolpur, Satabdi Roy from Birbhum and Rachana Bannerjee from Hooghly. The TMC holds 28 Lok Sabha seats with one vacancy after the death of the Basirhat MP. The rebellion is said to have left the leader with effective backing from only nine MPs. Rebel sources stated the group will not resign immediately or join the BJP but will operate as a separate bloc supporting the NDA to avoid anti-defection rules. They plan to cite the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and argue that Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar remains the chief whip. Reports mention a meeting at a senior BJP leader’s Delhi residence and an informal gathering attended by around twenty MPs. The parliamentary unrest follows a similar episode in the state assembly where fifty-eight MLAs rejected the leadership’s choice for Leader of the Opposition. At a recent INDIA bloc meeting, Mamata Banerjee took a more conciliatory tone amid the ongoing crisis.
