Ritabrata faction takes over TMC headquarters, escalates battle for party's political identity

Kolkata: The struggle for control of the Trinamool Congress entered a new phase on Friday with the rebel faction led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee taking possession of the organisational headquarters in Kolkata, a day after staking its claim to the party's name and symbol before the Election Commission.

The Metropolitan office has served as the party's operational headquarters since 2022, when the TMC shifted there after its original office on the EM Bypass was taken up for reconstruction. By moving into the premises, the dissidents sought to reinforce their claim to organisational legitimacy amid an escalating battle with the Mamata Banerjee-led faction.

Accompanied by senior leaders, including Firhad Hakim, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Akhruzzaman, Ritabrata visited the office and held a meeting there, asserting that his camp represented the "real" Trinamool Congress.


Leaders of the faction said they had completed the necessary agreement with the owners of the premises and would henceforth function from the office.

"We are the Trinamool Congress and this office belongs to the Trinamool Congress. There is an emotional connection between the party and this office," Akhruzzaman told reporters.

The development comes amid an intensifying tussle between the Ritabrata-led faction and the camp loyal to former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, with both sides claiming to be the legitimate Trinamool Congress following the party's defeat in the recent assembly elections.

While the confrontation has so far centred on rival organisational claims, resolutions and legal arguments, Friday's move carried considerable political symbolism, with the dissidents seeking to establish their presence at the office from where the party has been operating since 2022.

The office in the Metropolitan area was taken on rent after the party shifted out of its original EM Bypass headquarters, which is undergoing reconstruction.

The latest move follows Thursday's meeting between a delegation led by Ritabrata Banerjee and the full bench of the Election Commission in New Delhi.

The delegation met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two Election Commissioners and pressed its claim over the party's organisational structure and leadership.

The meeting drew sharp criticism from the Mamata Banerjee camp, which maintained that leaders expelled from the party had no authority to represent it before the poll panel.

However, the Election Commission subsequently wrote to both factions, asking them to submit their claims and counter-claims regarding organisational elections, authorised signatories and control of the party by 5.30 pm on July 6.

The poll panel's intervention has formally brought the dispute into the institutional domain, with both camps now preparing detailed submissions to bolster their respective claims.

The organisational crisis erupted after a majority of the party's MLAs backed Ritabrata Banerjee's challenge to Mamata Banerjee's leadership and elected senior legislator Arup Roy as chairperson at a special session convened by the dissident camp last month.

The Mamata Banerjee faction has rejected the proceedings as unconstitutional and has continued to insist that it remains the only legitimate leadership of the party.

Against this backdrop, the decision of the rebel camp to operate from the Metropolitan office is being seen as an attempt to reinforce its claim of organisational continuity while its battle with the rival faction moves simultaneously through political, legal and electoral channels.