Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand politician who ended 34 years of Communist rule in West Bengal and became one of India's most influential figures, is watching her party collapse barely a month after losing power.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) – once India's most successful regional party, with 15 years in government – is facing a rebellion by most of its legislators, a potential split among its MPs and growing doubts about Banerjee's authority. Last month, Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in the state of more than 100 million people, ending the TMC's rule amid anti-incumbency, religious polarisation and controversy over electoral rolls.
“Mamata Banerjee's TMC party faces rebellion by three-quarters of its legislators and a potential split among MPs weeks after losing power in West Bengal.”
Yet the TMC was hardly annihilated. It still won 26 million votes, only about three million fewer than the BJP, and retained roughly 40% of the popular vote. It holds 80 seats in the state assembly and 28 seats in parliament. By any conventional measure, it should be regrouping. Instead, it is coming apart.
The real shock came inside the legislature. Within weeks of the election, roughly three-quarters of the TMC's legislators revolted against Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, widely seen as her heir. The rebels seized control of the party's legislative wing, installed their own opposition leader and accused the leadership of forging signatures on legislative documents.
What initially appeared to be a state-level mutiny has now spread to Delhi. A reported 20 of the TMC's 28 MPs have written to the speaker of parliament seeking to break away from the party's parliamentary group and align themselves with the BJP-led ruling alliance. If confirmed, it would elevate the crisis from a legislative revolt to an existential challenge to the party's leadership and unity.
The parliamentary revolt is only the most visible symptom of a wider breakdown. In Falta, a constituency the TMC won with 56% of the vote in 2021, the party failed even to keep a candidate in the fray for a repoll. Then came perhaps the starkest symbol of its decline: a public meeting earlier in June that drew a sparse crowd, underscoring how quickly Banerjee's formidable political machine is crumbling.