Bengal’s 'Shinde moment': 58 rebel MLAs split TMC, declare expelled Ritabrata Banerjee as LoP

Kolkata: In a stunning political earthquake that mirrors the dramatic coup seen in Maharashtra, the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) has suffered the first major split in its 28-year history. Plunging Mamata Banerjee’s outfit into its deepest existential crisis since its inception in 1998, 58 rebel MLAs successfully staged a coup on Wednesday. The dissident faction has elected expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the new Leader of the Opposition (LoP), wresting total control of the legislature party.

The dramatic rebellion unfolded just two months after the TMC's crushing defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections. It has exposed a severe internal rupture regarding leadership, succession and the rising influence of party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

Led by Ritabrata Banerjee and fellow expelled MLA Sandipan Saha, the rebel camp submitted letters of support from 58 legislators to West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose. By comfortably crossing the critical two-thirds threshold required under the anti-defection law, their claim was officially accepted by the Speaker, legitimising them as a separate, dominant bloc.

'We accept Mamata, reject Abhishek'

In line with this strategy, the rebels stopped short of directly challenging Mamata Banerjee’s legacy. In their communication to the Speaker, they maintained their recognition of Mamata Banerjee as the party chairperson and even invited her to be the "chief adviser" to the legislative party.

However, they made their primary grievance loud and clear: they no longer accept the authority of her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee. "We accept Mamata Banerjee as our leader, but do not accept Abhishek Banerjee," a dissident leader stated.

The new rebel-led leadership structure in the Assembly names

• Leader of the Opposition (LoP): Ritabrata Banerjee
• Chief Whip: Akhruzzaman
• Deputy Leaders: Javed Ahmed Khan, Sandipan Saha, Sabina Yasmin and Shiuli Saha.

Other high-profile veterans joining the ranks of the revolt include Samar Mukhopadhyay, Arup Roy, Rathin Ghosh and Prasun Banerjee.

A rattled TMC retaliates

The Mamata Banerjee camp swiftly rejected the validity of the coup, claiming the rebel communication was submitted on "plain paper" rather than official party letterheads.

Recognising the immense threat of a parallel power center, the TMC leadership went into damage-control mode. Within hours, the party announced the immediate dissolution of all TMC committees and frontal organisations across West Bengal in a desperate bid to restructure and regain organisational control. Senior leader Kunal Ghosh lashed out at the dissidents, branding the move as outright "backstabbing”.

Opposition reacts: ‘History comes full circle’

The political fallout has been quick. Opposing factions point out the heavy irony, noting that between 2011 and 2021, the TMC engineered the defection of at least 65 Left and Congress MLAs without any facing disqualification. "History has come full circle," remarked CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty.

Meanwhile, the BJP wasted no time capitalising on the chaos. BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya posted on social media, stating, "Mamata Banerjee has lost control of her legislative party. This is only the beginning."

As the battle lines are drawn, the TMC finds itself fractured into two competing halves: one holding the party apparatus, funds and symbol, and the other commanding the raw legislative numbers in the Assembly.

What is a 'Shinde moment'?

The phrase "Shinde moment" has become a popular term in Indian politics to describe a high-stakes internal coup where a faction of lawmakers bypasses the party high command to seize control from within. Named after Eknath Shinde’s dramatic 2022 overhaul of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the strategy relies on gathering over a two-thirds majority of elected legislators to legally evade the anti-defection law. Instead of forming a new party, the rebels claim to be the "real" party based on raw legislative numbers. Crucially, the strategy involves a calculated optical move: praising the original founder—much like Shinde invoking Balasaheb Thackeray, or the Bengal rebels invoking Mamata Banerjee—while entirely rejecting the authority of the designated political heir or successor, which in the TMC's case is Abhishek Banerjee.

PTI