Kalighat TMC approaches EC with new 'Committee List' with Mamata as Chairperson, Abhishek as Gen Secy

The bitter internal feud within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has officially reached the doorstep of the Election Commission. Following a dramatic rebellion led by Ritabrata Banerjee on Monday afternoon, party supremo Mamata Banerjee executed a swift overnight counter-maneuver. The Kalighat faction rushed a newly revised list of the party's National Working Committee and comprehensive organizational details to the Election Commission to preemptively thwart the rebel camp's attempt to legally hijack the party's identity and financial assets.

In this newly submitted official roster, Mamata Banerjee explicitly asserted her position as the absolute Chairperson of the party, while retaining Abhishek Banerjee as the All India General Secretary. The documentation sent to the commission also firmly establishes Chandrima Bhattacharya as the state president, Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen as joint secretaries, and Subhasish Chakraborty as the treasurer. Through this rapid midnight submission, the Kalighat leadership is making a desperate and calculated bid to maintain legal custody of the party’s name, symbol, and central funds.

This political counter-strategy was initiated on Monday afternoon while Ritabrata Banerjee and his supporters were busy hosting a parallel convention at a five-star hotel in Newtown. Interestingly, while senior leader Arup Biswas had been included in the previous working committee drafted on June 5, Mamata Banerjee completely axed his name from Monday's revised list following his alignment with the rebel group. The internal collapse comes on the heels of the party's devastating performance in the recent 2026 assembly elections, which triggered widespread factionalism.

The rebel faction, having demonstrated a clear majority in the assembly, had already declared themselves the "real" Trinamool Congress, appointing Howrah Central MLA Arup Roy as their chairperson and Ritabrata Banerjee as the general secretary. The rebel camp had announced a 15-day deadline to register their new 30-member committee with the Election Commission. However, Mamata Banerjee’s overnight preemptive strike has effectively complicated the legal battle, setting the stage for a prolonged constitutional struggle over the legitimate ownership of the party.