Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is battling its sharpest internal crisis in years after its West Bengal election defeat left the party confronting absentee legislators, expulsions, allegations of forged signatures and open speculation over a possible split.
The turmoil has deepened as Banerjee tries to reassert control over a party reduced to the opposition benches after more than a decade in power. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the 294-seat Assembly has altered the state’s political balance, with Suvendu Adhikari now leading the government and Trinamool seeking to contain unrest within its 80-member legislative group.
The immediate flashpoint is a signature forgery row linked to the party’s internal move over the Leader of the Opposition post. Two Trinamool MLAs, Sandipan Saha and Ritabrata Banerjee, have complained to the Assembly secretariat that their signatures were allegedly forged in party documents. The charge has embarrassed the leadership at a time when it is already struggling to show unity after the poll setback.
The controversy has become politically damaging because it comes alongside reports that a large bloc of Trinamool legislators has been exploring an alternative line within the party. Suspended leader Riju Dutta has claimed that about 50 MLAs met to discuss their next move, including a bid to be recognised as the “real Trinamool” and to press for Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition. Party loyalists have dismissed the rebellion as a pressure tactic, but the scale of absenteeism from internal meetings has fuelled concern.
A meeting of newly elected Trinamool MLAs called under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership was deferred after a large number of legislators stayed away. The absence was read by rivals as evidence of a weakened command structure, though Trinamool leaders close to Banerjee maintain that organisational discipline will be restored once the first phase of post-election review is completed.
Banerjee responded by taking the confrontation to the street. She led a sit-in in Kolkata against what she described as Bharatiya Janata Party-backed violence, intimidation and political engineering. Addressing supporters, she accused the ruling side of using money, threats and arrests to break Trinamool and force defections. She also alleged that party legislators were being pressured to cross over or defy her leadership.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has rejected the allegations and argued that Trinamool’s troubles are the result of its own internal contradictions. State party leaders have publicly indicated that they do not want a rush of defectors from Trinamool, saying the government should not be weakened by what they called “Trinamoolisation”. That position is aimed at countering Banerjee’s charge that the ruling side is actively engineering a split, while also allowing the BJP to benefit from opposition disarray without formally owning it.
Banerjee’s remarks were also shaped by the personal and political weight of the election result. Her defeat from Bhabanipur by Suvendu Adhikari marked a symbolic blow, given the constituency’s long association with her leadership. The loss gave the BJP a powerful political narrative and left Trinamool without the aura of invincibility it carried through earlier contests.
The challenge for Trinamool is not only numerical. The party must decide whether to accommodate dissenters, move against them through disciplinary action, or seek a negotiated settlement before the Assembly session tests its floor coordination. Expulsions and suspensions may reassure loyalists but could also push wavering legislators further away. A softer approach could keep the party together but may be viewed as weakness by those seeking to challenge Banerjee’s authority.
