Party figures loyal to Banerjee have signalled that legislators who challenged the leadership after Trinamool lost power in West Bengal could become the next focus of an organisational and legal counter-offensive. The move follows the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s decision to give 20 rebel Trinamool MPs seven days to respond to petitions seeking their disqualification.
The notices, dated August 25, relate to separate petitions submitted by Trinamool national general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee to Speaker Om Birla on June 18. They seek action under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which governs disqualification on grounds of defection.
Banerjee subsequently approached the Supreme Court over the delay in deciding those petitions. The distinction is significant: the original disqualification petitions were filed before the Speaker, while the Supreme Court case seeks an expeditious decision on those proceedings.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took up the matter on August 25. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that notices had been issued to the MPs. The bench emphasised that the central question was not merely whether notices were served but whether the proceedings would be concluded within a reasonable timeframe.
The parliamentary dispute stems from the dramatic break-up of Trinamool after its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly election in May. Twenty of its 28 Lok Sabha MPs broke with the Banerjee leadership and sought to merge their group with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, a little-known political organisation with roots in Tripura.
The faction, led prominently by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, maintains that its numerical strength protects its members from disqualification. The rebels account for more than two-thirds of Trinamool’s Lok Sabha contingent, a threshold that has become central to their defence.
Trinamool disputes that interpretation. The party argues that the constitutional exemption concerns a valid merger of the original political party rather than a decision by two-thirds of legislators to leave independently and attach themselves to another organisation. The legal question could have wider implications because the wording of the Tenth Schedule has generated disputes over whether a legislature-party majority can, by itself, establish a protected merger.
The rebels have not yet received final recognition of their proposed merger in the Lok Sabha. Separate seating arrangements were provided during the Monsoon Session, but their parliamentary status continues to be contested while the Speaker considers the competing claims.
The upheaval in Parliament mirrors a deeper rupture in Trinamool’s Bengal organisation. Following the Assembly election defeat, dozens of Trinamool MLAs rallied behind Ritabrata Banerjee and challenged the authority of the leadership associated with Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
Fifty-eight of the party’s 80 elected MLAs initially backed Ritabrata Banerjee as leader of the legislature party. He was recognised as Leader of the Opposition by the Assembly Speaker, placing the dissident group in control of Trinamool’s legislative wing despite continuing disputes over the party organisation.
The Calcutta High Court this month allowed Ritabrata Banerjee to remain Leader of the Opposition for the time being, while directing that a challenge to his appointment be decided by a single bench within two months.
The dissident MLAs have taken a different route from their counterparts in Parliament. Ritabrata Banerjee has said his group does not intend to merge with the NCPI, leaving the Assembly struggle centred instead on control of Trinamool’s legislature party and organisational identity.
Signs of fluid loyalties have nevertheless emerged. Three MLAs aligned with Ritabrata Banerjee’s camp joined a protest organised by the Mamata Banerjee faction at the Assembly complex this month. Banerjee loyalist Kunal Ghosh has separately claimed that several rebel MPs and more than half of the dissident MLAs remain in contact with the former chief minister’s camp and could return.
No independently established figure has emerged for how many lawmakers are prepared to switch allegiance. The dissident leadership has also given no indication that its core legislative support has collapsed.
