Aroop asks bank to freeze 534 crores, Ritabrata-bloc counters; Which TMC has control over reserves?

An unprecedented internal warfare has erupted within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the absolute control of the party’s massive financial reserves amounting to Rs 534 crore. Following the dramatic shift in West Bengal's political landscape, Ritabrata Banerjee and his newly formed legislative bloc became highly active in asserting legal ownership over the party's central HDFC bank accounts. Fearing that the rebel faction would seize the funds, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee swiftly intervened from Kalighat, issuing an emergency directive to party treasurer Aroop Biswas to temporarily transfer the entire Rs 534 crore to a friendly, allied political party.

However, the secret plan leaked to the rebel camp almost instantly, prompting an aggressive counter-maneuver by Ritabrata’s faction. Facing intense legal warnings and immense administrative pressure from the "New Block," treasurer Aroop Biswas effectively capitulated and defied Mamata Banerjee's direct orders. Biswas sent a formal letter to the senior management of HDFC Bank, explicitly requesting an immediate freeze on all outbound and inbound transactions. In the letter, he cited severe internal organizational conflict, noting that the legitimate leadership and the official allotment of the party symbol remain legally unresolved.

This abrupt move by the treasurer has triggered widespread panic and deep suspicion within Mamata Banerjee's inner circle at Kalighat. Suspicions are mounting that Biswas might be operating in secret coordination with the rebel camp, especially since he has already skipped three police summonses regarding a separate incident at Yuva Bharati stadium. Political and legal analysts suggest that Biswas's transactional freeze letter could serve as the foundation for an impending formal FIR, which would allow law enforcement agencies to officially seal the massive account, dragging TMC's financial backbone into a protracted legal quagmire.