The Trinamool Congress rebel camp’s proposed merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party is being viewed as a temporary arrangement, with its leaders indicating that their long-term objective is to stake a claim to the TMC’s name and election symbol — a path similar to those taken by breakaway factions in the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party.
Senior rebel leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, once considered one of Mamata Banerjee’s closest aides, made the strategy clear while speaking to the reporters after meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Emphasising that the dissident bloc enjoys the support of two-thirds of the TMC’s 28 MPs, Bandopadhyay said that the group can pursue recognition in the future.
“This is the system,” he said, adding that the issue of who constituted the “real TMC” would be decided by the courts.
Bandopadhyay explained that while securing the backing of two-thirds of the parliamentary party helps shield members from disqualification under the anti-defection law, it does not automatically entitle them to claim the party’s name and symbol.
“When you leave with two-thirds of the party, you cannot demand the name of that party on the first day. In July, we will make a demand to give us the Trinamool name since we have a two-thirds majority from Trinamool. Then the court will decide,” he added.
The rebel MP’s statement came after the dissident camp had stated it several times that it represents the “real” Trinamool Congress. Notably, any dispute over which faction constitutes the “real” party is likely to invite legal scrutiny and can be settled with the intervention of judiciary and Election Commission.
However, the TMC rebel camp has not yet argued that it is carrying forward the ideological legacy of the party, unlike the Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena.
However, with Bandopadhyay’s statement, speculations are rife that a political battle is most likely to hit the political ground in West Bengal, similar to that of Shiv Sena split, where the Election Commission awarded the party name and symbol to the Eknath Shinde faction.