‘We are the Trinamool Congress’: Ritabrata Banerjee asserts claim amid TMC power struggle with Mamata faction

TMC leader and West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed there was no confusion over which faction represented the “real” Trinamool Congress, a day after his group submitted its national working committee list to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Banerjee said the faction did not need to stake a claim to the party symbol, asserting that it was the legitimate TMC and had the backing of a majority of elected representatives in West Bengal.

“It is a routine process. Whenever there is a special session or any session, it must be apprised to the Election Commission of India and to the state body also. We have followed what needs to be done… We are the Trinamool Congress. So, no question of claiming the party symbol arises,” Banerjee said.

The statement came a day after the rebel faction, which claims support from 65 of TMC’s 80 MLAs, held a meeting in New Town, Kolkata. During the meeting, legislators voted to remove party founder Mamata Banerjee as chairperson and elected Howrah Central MLA Arup Roy as the new party chief.

The rebel group argued that a constitutional crisis had emerged under Article 20 of the party constitution, claiming that the three-year term of the national working committee formed in February 2022 had expired.

Earlier, Banerjee had said Mamata would be welcome to continue as the party’s chief advisor.

Mamata faction submits rival list to ECI

Soon after the rebel camp filed its list with the ECI, the Mamata-led faction submitted another list on Monday night, dated “as on June 20, 2026.” It retained Mamata Banerjee as chairperson and Abhishek Banerjee as national general secretary.

The faction described its submission as the “original but minority” list, acknowledging that it was weaker within the legislative wing.

Battle over TMC name and symbol

The Election Commission is expected to examine both claims under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

Officials said the decision would rely on the “two-wing test” established in the Sadiq Ali vs ECI case, which considers support in both the party’s organisational and legislative wings.

The rebel faction claims it has the backing of 81% of TMC legislators and 71% of the party’s Lok Sabha MPs.