Kolkata, West Bengal | Ten rebel TMC MLAs have been given seven days to answer a disqualification petition filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp.
Bengal Assembly Notices 10 Rebel TMC MLAs in Defection Case
The West Bengal Assembly Secretariat has issued notices to 10 Trinamool Congress MLAs aligned with the party’s rebel faction, asking them to respond within seven days to a petition seeking their disqualification. The development has transformed the continuing TMC leadership struggle into a formal proceeding under the anti-defection law.
The notices were sent to Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee and MLAs Arup Roy, Firhad Hakim, Sandipan Saha, Akhruzzaman Ansari, Shiuli Saha, Sabina Yasmin, Biplab Mitra, Javed Khan and Rathin Ghosh. Ansari confirmed receiving the communication and said the legislators would discuss the matter within their faction before submitting their replies within the prescribed period.
Assembly notices intensify TMC factional battle
The Assembly action came shortly after senior TMC legislator Sovandeb Chattopadhyay approached the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of Ritabrata Banerjee and the nine other MLAs. Chattopadhyay had initially submitted a petition to the Assembly Speaker on July 7, alleging that the legislators had acted against the party’s interests and defied its recognised leadership.
The dispute began after Ritabrata Banerjee was chosen as Leader of the Opposition with the support of rebel legislators, despite the Mamata Banerjee-led faction nominating Chattopadhyay for the position. Chattopadhyay has separately challenged the Speaker’s decision before the Calcutta High Court.
The rebel group has also elected Ansari as its chief whip and created a parallel organisational structure. Its leaders maintain that they command the support of a majority of the TMC’s 80 MLAs and are therefore entitled to control the legislature party.
Anti-defection dispute spreads across institutions
The TMC conflict is now being contested before the Assembly, Supreme Court, Calcutta High Court, Lok Sabha Secretariat and Election Commission. The Mamata Banerjee camp argues that the rebel legislators’ activities amount to voluntarily abandoning the party and should attract disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Similar proceedings are underway against 20 Lok Sabha MPs who left the TMC and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, which subsequently aligned with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued notices to those MPs following petitions seeking their disqualification.
TMC leader and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee has said the grounds raised against the 10 MLAs are similar to those cited in the proceedings involving the rebel MPs. The rebel faction, however, has described the latest notices as a routine procedural step rather than a legal victory for the Mamata Banerjee camp.
Election Commission decision remains crucial
Riju Dutta, a spokesperson for the Ritabrata Banerjee-aligned faction, said the Speaker had merely sought responses from the MLAs as required under procedure. He argued that the notices should not be interpreted as an indication that their disqualification had already been decided.
Meanwhile, both factions continue to claim the Trinamool Congress name, its twin-flower-on-grass election symbol and control over the party’s organisational resources. The Election Commission has heard representatives from both camps, but its ruling remains awaited.
Leaders supporting Mamata Banerjee have indicated that the first set of proceedings deliberately targets 10 prominent rebels. Other legislators aligned with the rival camp are reportedly being given time to reconsider their position, suggesting that the legal proceedings are also being used to increase political pressure on the wider rebel group.
