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Ritabrata Banerjee may be the face of the rebellion, but the Muslim MLAs backing him could make the crisis far more damaging for Mamata Banerjee.
For more than a decade, Mamata Banerjee’s dominance over Bengal’s Muslim electorate appeared almost unshakeable and invincible.
With Ritabrata Banerjee, a turncoat and first-time Trinamool Congress MLA, claiming that 60 of the party’s 80 MLAs are prepared to break away and form a separate legislative group in the state Assembly, the headline number is 60. For Mamata Banerjee, however, the more consequential number could be 17.
Of the 60 Trinamool MLAs backing Ritabrata Banerjee’s ‘real Trinamool’ campaign, nearly 17 to 18 are Muslim legislators representing constituencies across Murshidabad, Malda, South 24 Parganas and other minority-dominated pockets of Bengal. In any other party, that would be a statistic. In Trinamool Congress, it is substantial and a warning signal.
Even if Mamata Banerjee dissolves the existing Trinamool structure and decides to rebuild the party from scratch, replacing rebel leaders may prove far easier than restoring confidence in the Muslim strongholds that once formed her most reliable political fortress. Political organisations can be restructured. Vote banks are much harder to reconstruct once cracks begin to appear.
The situation could also create an opening for the Congress to regain political relevance in the state. Sources in the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) said some Muslim MLAs have started negotiating with the Congress at multiple levels. A senior leader said, “A few Congress MLAs reached out to senior central leaders, and some also contacted PCC members directly.”
Speaking with News18, Adhir Chowdhury, former leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and former PCC chief of Bengal, called the new form of the Trinamool legislative party a ‘BJP-sponsored Trinamool’. Elaborating on the Muslim MLAs of Trinamool, he said, “Muslim MLAs may start opening channels with the Congress because they will not be able to return to their areas across the state if they stay in such a position for long.”
A senior Trinamool leader, who is still with Mamata Banerjee, said, “The Muslim leaders and many others have reiterated that they are part of Trinamool Congress and still consider Mamata Banerjee their leader. This is an unprecedented situation and none expected things to unfold like this. We are now waiting for Didi’s decision.”
After the meeting of the rebel MLAs in the Assembly, Akhruzamman Khan, a Trinamool MLA and part of the rebel group, said, “We are with Trinamool and Mamata Banerjee is our leader. When she called, we went. But the established rules of the legislature party were ignored, making us a subject of ridicule. We acted to protect the dignity of the legislature party. Our appeal to Mamata Banerjee is to grant us formal recognition and become our principal adviser.”
A Rebellion In The Heartland
For more than a decade, Mamata Banerjee’s dominance over Bengal’s Muslim electorate appeared almost unshakeable and invincible. The relationship was not built merely on electoral arithmetic. It rested on a vast network of Muslim MLAs, district leaders, local influencers, clerics and organisational loyalists who viewed Trinamool as their natural political home.
That is precisely why the current revolt is so significant. The challenge is not that Muslim voters have deserted Mamata Banerjee. There is little evidence of that yet. The challenge is that a sizeable section of Muslim legislators appears willing to openly back a parallel political formation led by Ritabrata Banerjee. The group also includes Javed Ahmed Khan, one of Mamata Banerjee’s close leaders from the community and a former minister.
The symbolism matters as much as the numbers.
Historically, Trinamool’s Muslim leadership acted as a stabilising force whenever the party faced internal crises. This time, many of them appear to be on the other side of the battle lines.
Sources in the party indicate that some leaders have also quietly opened channels with the Congress and the ISF, exploring future political options even while the current power struggle continues. Whether these discussions lead to formal alliances or defections is secondary. The fact that such conversations are taking place at all reflects growing uncertainty within sections of Trinamool’s traditional support structure.
For Mamata Banerjee, the danger lies not in losing individual legislators. It lies in the message those departures send across Bengal’s minority belt. Politics often runs on perception. And the perception that Muslim leaders are beginning to hedge their bets could prove more damaging than the rebellion itself.
About the Author
Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has co…Read More
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