Mass Defection of 58 MLAs Throws Trinamool Congress Into Political Turmoil as AAP MP Sanjay Singh Accuses BJP of Engineering Party Splits

Speaking to reporters after 58 Trinamool Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly rebelled against the party leadership and staked claim over the Trinamool Congress Legislative Party, Sanjay Singh alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party operates by breaking rival political formations through pressure tactics involving the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

He stated, “The way the Bharatiya Janata Party operates involves breaking parties apart, intimidating with the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, and investigative agencies, which has become a game in the country. They broke Shiv Sena, broke the Nationalist Congress Party, broke Congress in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, broke Congress in Goa, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. They broke our Aam Aadmi Party as well.”

He further added that such actions are aimed at consolidating national power, asserting that public response remains the only effective countermeasure.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has descended into internal chaos after a significant political defeat in the April 2026 assembly elections, which ended its 15-year rule. The party has since been engulfed in a sweeping internal mutiny that has fractured its legislative structure, isolated Diamond Harbour Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee, and effectively stripped the central leadership of its authority.

On Wednesday afternoon, a major political development unfolded when 58 out of the 80 newly elected Trinamool Congress Members of the Legislative Assembly arrived at the chamber of Assembly Speaker Rathindranath Bose to formally stake their claim over the party’s legislative wing.

The breakaway group, led by recently expelled legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, claimed to have crossed the required two-thirds majority threshold necessary to bypass anti-defection provisions. The faction subsequently announced Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly.

As the internal crisis escalated, the Trinamool Congress high command responded with sweeping administrative action on the social media platform X, dissolving all party committees and affiliated frontal organizations across West Bengal with immediate effect, describing the move as part of an “introspection and performance review.”

Ritabrata Banerjee, addressing reporters, launched a direct political attack on the party’s national general secretary, stating that Abhishek Banerjee would have no role in either the legislative or organizational structure of the breakaway group.

However, the rebel faction has maintained that party supremo Mamata Banerjee remains their ultimate leader. The group has formally requested her to assume a ceremonial position as chief advisor to guide their functioning and strengthen their position as the opposition.

Rebel legislators Reyat Hossain Sarkar and Gulam Rabbani echoed this stance, emphasizing that they had secured electoral victories using Mamata Banerjee’s image. While reaffirming her leadership, they also accepted Ritabrata Banerjee as the democratic choice to lead them on the floor of the assembly.

The unfolding crisis has exposed deep fractures within the Trinamool Congress, marking one of the most severe internal challenges to the party’s leadership in recent years and reshaping the political landscape of West Bengal.