Trinamool Congress faces internal split as rebel MPs and MLAs threaten defection to NDA

Rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Ritabrata Banerjee said a post‑election meeting on May 6 forced members to stand and applaud Abhishek Banerjee, revealing hesitation and dissent within the party. He claimed that 58 of the party’s 80 MLAs have joined his faction and urged a floor test to prove the leadership’s majority.

In a separate development, TMC MP Mahua Moitra publicly condemned a group of about 20 TMC MPs who sent a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing willingness to support the ruling National Democratic Alliance. Moitra demanded they resign and re‑contest elections, noting that the alleged defections could meet the two‑thirds threshold required to avoid anti‑defection penalties.

Both incidents highlight growing fractures in the West Bengal ruling party and raise questions about its stability ahead of future legislative and national political contests.