Rebel TMC builds parallel organisation as Anubrata Mondal joins Ritabrata Banerjee camp

Kolkata, The Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel TMC on Saturday stepped up its bid for control of the party by unveiling parallel state and district committees, drawing several of Mamata Banerjee's longtime loyalists, including former Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal, into its fold in a decisive shift from political rebellion to institution-building.

The appointments, announced after the faction's two-day working committee meeting here, indicate that the rebels are seeking to move beyond challenging Mamata Banerjee's leadership and build a parallel party apparatus while their claim over the TMC remains pending before the Election Commission.

The exercise marks the second major step in the faction's strategy after last month's special session, where it removed Mamata Banerjee as party chairperson, elected senior MLA Arup Roy to the post, constituted a parallel working committee and approached the EC seeking recognition as the "real" Trinamool Congress.


The biggest political message, however, came from Birbhum.

Former Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal, long regarded as one of Mamata Banerjee's most trusted political lieutenants, was appointed president of the rebel faction's Birbhum unit, making his crossover one of the most symbolically significant since the split in the party widened after the assembly election.

More than the post itself, Mondal's induction underscored how rapidly political equations within the TMC have shifted. It also places him in the same camp as Kajal Sheikh, another influential Birbhum leader with whom he had fought a prolonged battle for supremacy in the district despite repeated attempts by the party leadership to broker peace.

For years, the rivalry between the two TMC leaders epitomised the factional fault lines within the TMC in Birbhum. Their coexistence under the Ritabrata camp suggests that the struggle for political relevance has begun to outweigh long-standing personal and organisational rivalries.

Birbhum is not an isolated example.

Several leaders who until recently represented competing power centres within the TMC now find themselves sharing space under the rebel banner, reflecting the extent to which the party's internal realignment has reordered old loyalties and equations.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen was appointed one of the faction's principal spokespersons, while MLA Arunava (Raja) Sen was named president of the Howrah district unit. Former minister Rabindranath Chatterjee was given charge of Purba Bardhaman and Debasish Kumar was appointed president of the South Kolkata district unit.

The faction also announced district presidents for Paschim Medinipur, Paschim Bardhaman, Bankura, Purulia, Diamond Harbour, Sundarbans, North Kolkata and several other organisational districts, completing what leaders described as the first phase of its statewide expansion.

Taken together, the appointments suggest that the rebels are attempting to demonstrate not merely legislative strength but also the organisational network expected of a functioning political party.

That objective assumes significance because the dispute has gradually moved beyond competing political narratives into a contest over organisational continuity, with both factions claiming to represent the original Trinamool Congress before the Election Commission.

The developments come as the rival camps prepare to observe July 21 separately for the first time since the party's formation in 1998, underlining how the conflict has evolved into a battle over the TMC's political identity and legacy.

Ritabrata Banerjee said they have got permission to hold the Martyrs' Day rally on July 21 in front of the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road.

The organisational expansion also follows a series of reverses for the Mamata Banerjee camp after the assembly election.

Last month, the Ritabrata faction claimed the support of 58 of the party's 80 MLAs in the contest over the Leader of the Opposition's post, rejecting the nominee backed by the Mamata Banerjee camp. Rebel leaders now claim that their strength in the assembly has risen to around 65 legislators.

The split has also spread to Parliament, where 20 of the TMC's 28 Lok Sabha MPs have broken away and extended support to the BJP-led NDA after merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), while several senior organisational leaders have also aligned with the Ritabrata camp.

Against that backdrop, Saturday's organisational exercise signals that the contest is no longer confined to legislative numbers or legal claims before the EC.

Instead, it has entered the party's grassroots structure, where both camps are racing to consolidate workers, replicate the TMC's organisational pyramid and strengthen their competing claims to the political inheritance of a party founded by Mamata Banerjee nearly three decades ago.