Holding the flock together: Mamata reaches out to rebels as TMC battles further fragmentation

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Former West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC main  Mamata Banerjee.

Former West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC main Mamata Banerjee. | Photo Credit: ANI

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has launched efforts to forestall further exodus from the enactment pursuing the archetypal divided successful its 28-year history, personally reaching retired to rebel legislators adjacent arsenic elder leaders enactment to clasp unneurotic the flock that appears progressively restless aft the post-poll rupture.

Sources successful the enactment said Ms. Banerjee has implicit the past 2 days spoken to respective MLAs from Howrah, Murshidabad and North Dinajpur, galore of whom were seen attending meetings of the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel campy aft 58 legislators seized power of the TMC legislature enactment and installed the expelled MLA arsenic the person of the opposition.

The calls travel astatine a clip erstwhile the TMC laminitis finds herself successful the unfamiliar presumption of warring to clasp leaders she had erstwhile handpicked and politically nurtured.

"She is speaking to legislators individually and asking them to be a gathering astatine Kalighat connected Friday (June 5,2026). The effort is to support connection channels unfastened and research the anticipation of reconciliation," a elder TMC person said.

According to enactment insiders, parallel damage-control exercises are underway successful Parliament arsenic well.

Two trusted TMC MPs — 1 each from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha — person reportedly been tasked with contacting enactment colleagues and persuading them not to wantonness the organisation for the "new Trinamool" being built by the Ritabrata Banerjee camp.

The outreach reflects increasing interest wrong the remaining TMC enactment that the Assembly rebellion could spill implicit into Parliament and section bodies if not contained quickly.

The developments underline the bonzer reversal confronting Ms. Banerjee, who built the TMC successful 1998 arsenic a one-woman governmental question and kept it mostly escaped of superior interior rebellions for astir 3 decades.

While the rebel campy has projected the divided arsenic a conflict against the increasing power of TMC nationalist wide caput Abhishek Banerjee, it has simultaneously sought to clasp Mamata Banerjee arsenic a symbolic and ideological anchor — a contradiction that has begun exposing strains wrong the dissident bloc itself.

A time aft wresting power of the legislature party, the rebels showed signs of discomfort implicit attempts to redefine Ms. Banerjee's role.

Several MLAs publically insisted that she indispensable stay the party's ultimate person and not beryllium reduced to the presumption of an adviser.

"We were told that the enactment would proceed nether Mamata Banerjee's leadership. She is not simply an adviser. We privation the enactment to relation nether her leadership," rebel MLA Gulshan Mullick had told reporters aft a gathering of the dissident legislators.

The remarks highlighted the delicate balancing enactment facing the rebels — distancing themselves from Abhishek Banerjee portion preserving their governmental relation with the person who remains the astir fashionable look of the organisation.

Political observers said those sentiments whitethorn person encouraged the TMC enactment to intensify efforts to triumph backmost fence-sitters earlier loyalties harden into a imperishable realignment.

"The rebels person numbers, but they bash not yet person affectional ownership of the party's legacy. Mamata Banerjee remains the strongest governmental and affectional glue wrong the organisation. The TMC enactment appears to beryllium trying to exploit that contradiction," a Kolkata-based governmental expert said.

Meanwhile, the Ritabrata Banerjee campy continued efforts to consolidate its position.

A time aft being recognised arsenic Leader of Opposition, Ms. Ritabrata held a gathering with the 58 rebel MLAs astatine the Assembly and aboriginal led a delegation to conscionable the authorities Director General of Police implicit alleged harassment of enactment workers loyal to the dissidents.

The campy is besides intimately monitoring Friday's (June 5) gathering astatine Ms. Banerjee's Kalighat residence, viewing attendance figures arsenic a cardinal indicator of whether the TMC main inactive retains the quality to power legislators who person formally crossed over.

For Mamata Banerjee, the conflict is nary longer simply astir recovering power of a legislature enactment she erstwhile commanded effortlessly.

It is progressively astir preserving the organisation she built from scratch and preventing further fragmentation astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile the party's aboriginal leadership, ideological absorption and governmental individuality are each being contested simultaneously.

Nearly 3 decades aft creating the TMC astir her ain governmental persona, Ms. Banerjee present faces possibly the astir hard situation of her vocation — keeping the enactment unneurotic erstwhile galore of those who erstwhile stood closest to her are nary longer lasting successful the aforesaid camp.

Published - June 05, 2026 03:34 p.m. IST

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