TMC MP Sushmita Dev
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The split in the Trinamool Congress is deepening. On Wednesday, Ritabrata Banerjee, the leader of the legislature party faction, claimed the support of 64 rebel MLAs, up from 58 last week. Moreover, Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev resigned from the Rajya Sabha and the party.“The count is currently 64 MLAs. These legislators will come and submit a letter to the Speaker. We are the real Trinamool Congress,” Banerjee told newspersons outside the State Assembly.Notably, in a major jolt to the Trinamool Congress founder and supremo, Mamata Banerjee, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, two expelled TMC MLAs, last Wednesday claimed the support of 58 MLAs, over two-thirds of the party’s newly elected legislators. Speaker Rathindra Bose recognised Ritabrata as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly.“The number of MLAs with us may become 65 tomorrow when another legislator joins us. Naturally, we are the real Trinamool Congress,” Ritabrata added.Sushmita Dev, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP, resigned from all party posts on Wednesday, making her the second Rajya Sabha MP from the party to do so this week. Senior leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray on Monday resigned as Rajya Sabha MP and quit TMC, alleging “unbridled corruption” during the Trinamool Congress regime in West Bengal.Trinamool’s rebel Lok Sabha member Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Monday said she and at least 20 other party MPs decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to formally convey their desire to be part of the BJP-led NDA.Ghosh Dastidar, a four-term parliamentarian, was upset with the party and party chief Mamata Banerjee after being removed from the post of the Chief Whip, which recently went to Kalyan Banerjee. The Trinamool Congress presently has 28 Lok Sabha MPs.The Mamata Banerjee-led party has faced a major internal rebellion after the massive defeat to the BJP in the Assembly polls in West Bengal, as several party leaders questioned her strategies. Most of the rebel party leaders have publicly expressed their anger against Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s national general secretary and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, and questioned his leadership.Riding on a massive anti-incumbency wave against the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government, the BJP recorded a historic landslide victory in the Assembly elections held in April. The saffron party’s win ended 15 years of TMC rule and marked a watershed moment for the party as it dismantled Mamata Banerjee’s bastion through an all-guns-blazing election campaign. The party won 208 seats, reducing the Trinamool to just 80 in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.Published on June 10, 2026
