The Trinamool Congress filed a detailed defense before the Election Commission of India asserting its leadership’s validity until 2027, after both the Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee factions were directed to submit documents by July 6, 2026, and with the rebel camp given time until 5:30 pm on July 10, 2026. The filings unfolded before the national poll body in India, with the dispute centering on who controls the party organization, its symbol and authorized signatories.
The contest matters because the EC’s recognition will determine which faction is the legitimate representative of the party and who controls its election symbol and financial resources. The standoff followed the party’s defeat in the April 2026 assembly elections in West Bengal, triggering a split and a high-stakes struggle with implications for legislative alignments, funding and organizational assets. Last update: 10 July 2026.
EC deadlines, filings and the signatory dispute
The poll body initially directed both camps to file their claims and counter-claims by 5:30 pm on July 6, 2026, focusing on authorized signatories and organizational polls. After a petition by Ritabrata Banerjee seeking recognition as the “real” Trinamool Congress, the EC sought comprehensive responses, and later granted the rebel faction an extension to 5:30 pm on Friday, July 10, 2026. A senior TMC leader alleged the extension showed the Commission was acting “at the behest of the BJP,” a charge the rebel camp has used to underscore bias claims but which remains unproven.
Following its submission, a TMC delegation led by Kalyan Banerjee, and joined by Mahua Moitra and Sagarika Ghosh, said the party had answered every allegation raised by the rival faction. “Today, we have filed our response which was sought by the EC on the basis of a representation made by Ritabrata Banerjee, the alleged secretary of the alleged TMC. We have given a very detailed reply on that.” The EC’s eventual ruling will decide interim control over the party’s symbol and resource flows, which both sides have treated as pivotal to their claims and future electoral positioning.
Constitutional tenure: from 1998 rules to a five-year term
The core of the establishment faction’s case is a chronological argument over the party’s constitution and the tenure of its organizational bodies. Party representatives recalled that when the West Bengal Trinamool Congress was registered in 1998, working committee terms were three years. After its conversion into the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) in 2000, an amended constitution—approved by the EC—extended tenure to four years. A further amendment in 2006 increased the term to five years, with the change formally communicated to the Commission and referenced in subsequent directions to hold internal polls within that period.
On that basis, the Mamata Banerjee-led faction argued its last internal election in 2026 reset the committees’ mandate until 2027. Kalyan Banerjee stated: “The last election was held in 2026. Therefore, automatically the life of the AITC and the National Working Committee remains for a period of five years. It will expire in 2027. Therefore, the first allegation that the life is no longer there is incorrect and not supported by the constitutional provisions of the AITC,” he said. The party’s filing also asserted that rebels benefited from the chairperson’s signature in the 2026 elections, contrasting that reliance with the subsequent challenge to authority.
Rebel claims: legislative numbers and organizational changes
Ritabrata Banerjee’s camp has pressed a parallel case built on claims of majority backing among legislators and party office-bearers. On June 3, 2026, Ritabrata submitted a letter to the Bengal assembly Speaker proposing himself as Leader of Opposition saying it was endorsed by 59 TMC MLAs, described as exceeding the two-thirds threshold for recognition within the legislature. The faction nominated Arup Roy for a top organizational post, and circulated a list for the national executive that excluded Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, presenting these steps as evidence of control over the party’s legislative and organizational blocs.
The rebel group said it informed the Commission after a special organizational session on June 22 and asked for recognition of the changes it claimed to have carried out. It simultaneously sought custody of the TMC’s name and symbol and challenged the validity of the current organizational committees on the ground that their terms had expired. The tussle also reached the party’s headquarters, with the Mamata-aligned camp accusing rivals of an illegal takeover at Trinamool Bhavan and filing a police complaint alleging criminal trespass, turning the internal contest into a confrontation over physical premises and access.
Street politics, messaging and stakes in West Bengal
As filings moved forward, public signaling intensified. Mamata Banerjee addressed a Trinamool Youth Congress protest rally in Kolkata, where clashes were alleged between TMC workers and BJP supporters. She warned against defections in stark terms: “People shouldn’t forgive TMC leaders who are traitors, sided with BJP; don’t try to sail on two boats, there’s still time to look back and address barbarity,” she said. Her camp accused political opponents of misusing religious imagery, while challenging rebels to openly join the BJP rather than wage an internal war.
For the rebels, the thrust remained on numbers and procedural steps—legislative endorsements, committee lists, and requests that the EC freeze or transfer authorized signatory powers. The Commission’s decision, once delivered, will set the operative chain of command for candidate selection, symbol allocation and financial authorization. The outcome will shape how the TMC positions itself against the BJP in West Bengal, decide who participates in upcoming organizational polls and, in practical terms, determine control over offices, records, and communications under the party name.
With both sides now having placed documents before the EC, the dispute narrowed to the Commission’s interpretation of the party’s constitution the validity of claimed organizational sessions, and the evidentiary weight of MLA signatures. The establishment camp maintained its committees are valid until 2027; the rebel camp insisted the mandate lapsed in 2026 and that a new order had been duly constituted. The EC’s timelines, including the extended 5:30 pm July 10, 2026 cut-off for the rebel faction, positioned the matter for a procedural next step that will decide immediate control over the party’s symbol and finances as the broader power struggle continues.
