4 min readNew DelhiJul 3, 2026 04:23 AM IST
First published on: Jul 2, 2026 at 03:29 PM IST
The battle for control of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) played out here on Thursday as the bloc of rebel MLAs met the Election Commission (EC) in New Delhi, even as the Mamata Banerjee-led party questioned the poll body’s decision to agree to the meeting.
The EC, later in the day, wrote to both the sides about each other’s claims and counterclaims, asking them to submit their responses by 5.30 pm on July 6.
The delegation of 10 rebel MLAs led by the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Ritabrata Banerjee, met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners (ECs) Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi at the Nirvachan Sadan in the afternoon and claimed they had “over two-thirds majority”. After the meeting, Banerjee said, “We are the TMC as we have over two-thirds majority.
The majority of MLAs, councillors, and Zila Parishad members are with us. The CEC and other Election Commissioners gave us a patient hearing. We made our points. We are hopeful that EC will get back to us shortly.”
Banerjee said that immediately after a special session of the party on June 22, “we formally gave in writing to the Election Commission of India and physically met ECI in Kolkata; at the time, we had sought an appointment at the Election Commission of India”. At the meeting, the rebels removed Mamata Banerjee as chairperson and appointed Arup Roy in her place.
However, TMC’s Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sagarika Ghose, and senior Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy questioned the EC’s decision to meet the rebels, claiming that only authorised signatories of a recognised political party can seek an appointment with the poll body.
“The Election Commission had informed all political parties that only authorised signatories can seek a meeting. The AITC did not ask for a meeting. On what basis did the Election Commission grant an appointment to a person expelled by the TMC?” asked Roy.
Ghose accused the EC of acting at the behest of the BJP. “Only authorised signatories can request a meeting with the Election Commission’s full bench. Today, a group led by a person expelled from the party has met the full bench. As per the commission’s own rules, how did this group get the meeting?” she asked.
Ghose said there was a distinction between a political party and its legislature party. “What is this group that doesn’t have a single MP? It got an appointment with the full bench of the Election Commission only because the BJP and Amit Shah are behind it,” she alleged.
“The Election Commission of India has written letters to both Ms Mamta Banerjee and Mr Ritabrata Banerjee regarding the claims and counterclaims by both factions with respect to organisational elections/authorised signatories of All India Trinamool Congress. They have been asked to submit their responses by 5.30 pm on Monday, July 6, 2026,” an EC official said.
The party led by Mamata Banerjee had written to the poll body last month after expelling the rebels and informing it about the new list of office-bearers.
The meeting came amid the ongoing tug-of-war between the rebels and the party led by Mamata Banerjee, whom they removed as chairperson at a special session last month. (File Photo) 
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