Yusuf Pathan, Saayoni Ghosh, Shatrughan Sinha & More: List Of 19 Rebel TMC MPs Revealed

Kolkata: Amidst the growing turmoil within the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), a list of Lok Sabha MPs rebelling against party has been revealed. The rebel faction, reportedly being led by senior leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, includes 19 TMC MPs.

The leaders in the rebel camp are:

1. Saayoni Ghosh (Jadavpur)
2. Jagdish Chandra Basunia (Cooch Behar)
3. Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur)
4. Kakoli Ghosh (Barasat)
5. Shatrughan Sinha (Asansol)
6. Deepak Adhikari (Ghatal)
7. Rachana Banerjee (Hooghly)
8. Satabdi Roy (Birbhum)
9. Mala Roy (Kolkata Dakshin)
10. June Malia (Medinipur)
11. Partha Bhowmick (Barrackpore)
12. Bapi Haldar (Mathurapur)
13. Mitali Bag (Arambagh)
14. Khalilur Rahaman (Jangipur)
15. Abu Taher Khan (Murshidabad)
16. Arup Chakraborty (Bankura)
17. Dr. Sharmila Sarkar (Bardhaman Purba)
18. Asit Kumar Mal (Bolpur)
19. Kalipada Soren (Jhargram)

The rebel faction, now with the support of 19 out of a total of 28 TMC Lok Sabha MPs, can claim to be the ‘real TMC’ and can stake claim to the party symbol.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar stated that the rebel camp has formally requested the Lok Sabha Speaker for separate seating arrangements. She said, “We are 20 MPs who have requested the Speaker for separate seating, and we will be working in conjunction with the Central and State Government for the development of West Bengal."
 

Notably, the list of rebel MPs includes Bengali actor Deepak Adhikari (Dev), who just a day ago stated that as long as he is alive, he will be with Mamata Banerjee.

Rebellion Of Rajya Sabha MPs

Dissent is also visible among TMC's Rajya Sabha MPs. In a major jolt to TMC, prominent leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sushmita Dev resigned from her parliamentary seat and all party positions on Wednesday.

Her sudden departure deals another massive blow to party supremo Mamata Banerjee, coming less than twenty-four hours after veteran leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray quit the party and resigned from his upper house seat.

In his resignation letter to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Sukhendu said that the people of Bengal had “rejected the party's rampant corruption, extreme oppression of women, and its utter failure and the severe anarchy prevailing across sectors, including education, healthcare, industry, employment, and law and order.”

Praising the BJP, Sukhendu further wrote: “The voters have, for the first time in Bengal’s history, given the Bharatiya Janata Party a massive victory in terms of seats. The newly elected government has already begun working to implement multiple programmes for Bengal’s overall development and reconstruction, in line with its election promises.”

Upheaval In Legislative Assembly

The rebellion by TMC MPs comes just days after a political upheaval struck West Bengal as rebel TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, who was recently expelled by the party, was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition of West Bengal Assembly.

He reached the state Assembly with 58 out of TMC's 80 MLAs, in a move that threatened a major split within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and challenged the leadership of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Ritabrata Banerjee's arrival at the Assembly with the support of 58 legislators fuelled questions over who now represents the ‘real’ TMC.

‘No One Left In TMC, Party Is Finished’: BJP Leader

Commenting on the internal crisis within the TMC, BJP leader Khagen Murmu said, “There is no one left in the TMC, the party is finished.”

“The TMC once harboured an arrogance, an attempt to capture everything and in doing so, they destroyed Bengal, ushering in a 'Jungle Raj' there. Today, the public has delivered a decisive verdict in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party, effectively ending that arrogance and those past ambitions,” he added.

The BJP leader further said that the TCM is “withering away day by day” and is headed for total collapse. “Eventually, only two people will remain in the party—Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee—and no one else,” he added.

The internal crisis within the TMC comes following its landslide defeat in the state Assembly elections, where it won just 80 out of 294 seats and lost power after ruling over West Bengal for 15 years.