The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has plunged into a deep political crisis following severe internal rebellion and a high-stakes criminal investigation targeting its top leadership. In a significant legal development, the Calcutta High Court granted TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee three weeks of interim protection from coercive action, including immunity from immediate arrest. However, Justice Kausik Chanda explicitly ordered the Diamond Harbour MP to cooperate with authorities, resulting in a grueling six-hour interrogation by the West Bengal Police Crime Investigation Department (CID) at their Bhabani Bhawan headquarters after Banerjee had skipped three prior summonses.
The controversy stems from an alleged Vidhan Sabha signature scam regarding the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly. Rebel TMC MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha filed an official complaint claiming their signatures were completely fabricated on a party resolution document nominating veteran leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the post. The ensuing police probe has radically widened the internal fractures dividing the ruling party. Tensions reached a boiling point after a CID team executed unprecedented search and seizure raids directly inside the TMC’s central office adjacent to party chief Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence.
This aggressive pushback by state investigators has accelerated an outright mutiny within the party ranks. Defying top leadership, a massive bloc of 58 dissident legislators broke away to independently elect rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee as their choice for Leader of the Opposition. As chaotic scenes unfolded at the Kolkata airport with angry crowds chanting slogans against the party general secretary, the widening rift reveals a deep structural rebellion that threatens to permanently splinter the TMC’s legislative strength.
