The battle for control of the Trinamool Congress has now landed at the Election Commission's doorstep. With both Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee staking claim to the party, the Commission has sent separate letters to each of them asking for their response. Both leaders have been given time until Monday, July 6, 2026, 5:30 pm, to submit documents and arguments backing their respective claims.
Ritabrata Banerjee meets the Commission's full bench
Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of Opposition in the Bengal assembly, led a delegation of party leaders to meet the Election Commission's full bench. He told the Commission that most of the party's MLAs, councillors and workers now stand with him, which makes his faction the real Trinamool Congress, and argued that the party's name and its election symbol should go to his group. He also informed the Commission of a major organisational overhaul inside the party, a representative session held in Kolkata on June 22 elected a new president and vice president and set up a new National Working Committee.
The numbers game: a claim of two-thirds support
According to Ritabrata Banerjee, new faces have been installed as party president, general secretary and treasurer, and the new setup now carries fresh signatures. He told the Commission that 65 of the party's 80 MLAs are currently with him. Add councillors and district-level office bearers, he said, and more than two-thirds of the party stands with his faction. On this basis, he wants his group formally recognised as the genuine Trinamool Congress. Following this, the Election Commission wrote to both camps asking them to submit supporting documents by 5:30 pm on July 6.
Ritabrata Banerjee explains the split: dynasty replaced grassroots
Ritabrata Banerjee also explained why he has broken away from Mamata Banerjee. He said the word Trinamool itself means grassroots, and the party was originally built by grassroots workers, but dynastic politics has since taken their place. He claimed the people of Bengal are unhappy with this shift and that the party's own workers are angry too, which is why he is now staking claim to the Trinamool Congress. Going forward, he said, the party will be run through collective leadership rather than the worship of one individual.
Mamata Banerjee's camp hits back
Leaders close to Mamata Banerjee also reached the Election Commission and dismissed the rival faction's claims as baseless. Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh, on Thursday, described the leaders who met the Commission as fringe figures of little consequence and questioned why the Commission's full bench even agreed to meet them. According to Ghosh, only a party's authorised representatives are supposed to meet the Election Commission, and the manner in which these leaders were called in for a meeting suggests the Commission is acting at the BJP's behest.
Congress joins hands with Mamata Banerjee
In an interesting twist, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also came out in support of Mamata Banerjee on this issue. Chowdhury said the rebelling leaders are biting the very hand that fed them, adding that these leaders became MLAs and rose to prominence only because of Mamata Banerjee's hard work, yet are now betraying her. All eyes are now on July 6, when both factions will place their documents and responses before the Election Commission, which will then have to decide which side gets to be recognised as the real Trinamool Congress.
