Kolkata: In yet another setback for the Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress, the party’s Bengal state president, Chandrima Bhattacharya, stepped down from her position on Saturday, July 4, barely a month after she was entrusted with the responsibility, deepening the crisis engulfing the TMC following its crushing defeat in the Assembly elections.
In a letter addressed to the Trinamool Congress chairperson, Mamata Banerjee, Bhattacharya also relinquished responsibilities from all other posts she held in the party, fuelling speculations that she may soon join the expanding camp of TMC rebels.
A former minister who handled key portfolios such as finance and health and a long-time confidante of Mamata Banerjee, Bhattacharya had been appointed state president on June 3, replacing veteran leader Subrata Bakshi.
“At the end I would like to state that I have the highest regards for you and will remain ever respectful to you,” she stated in her resignation letter.
Talking to reporters, Bhattacharya later clarified that her decision was triggered by Banerjee’s over-the-phone admonishment, blaming her for “allowing the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel faction of the party to take control of the party’s Trinamool Bhavan operational headquarters” in Kolkata.
‘Deeply hurt…hold no grudge’
Bhattacharya was present at her office when the Ritabrata-led rebel faction had walked into the Trinamool Bhavan on Friday, July 3, but had left the building shortly after. The rebel faction leaders held a meeting at the premises before changing the locks of the main gate and declaring they would henceforth operate from the premises.
“I was deeply hurt when she (Mamata Banerjee) called me to say that I have handed over the party office to them (the rebels), although I do not know how I did that. It is evident that my loyalty and trustworthiness were shaken from their roots. This had never happened in the past,” Bhattacharya said.
She said once those fundamental binding forces are gone, there is no reason for her to stay in the party or return to it.
“I hold no grudge against anyone. I think I must have failed to shoulder the responsibility I was entrusted with, and hence I have stepped aside,” she added.
More to life than this, says Bhattacharya when asked if she’ll join rebel faction
Asked whether she would join the rebel camp, Bhattacharya said, “There’s more to life than this. One must acknowledge the path time takes you on, but I am yet to decide the course I will chart”.
Bhattacharya, however, refused to comment on the deepening factional fights within the party and which side she supported on grounds that “the matters are sub judice either before the Election Commission or before the court”.
Minutes later, Bhattacharya was seen sitting in a meeting with the rebel camp leaders at the chamber of Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of Opposition, in the state legislative assembly.
Bhattacharya was welcomed at the assembly gate by the deputy leader of opposition and a prominent member of the rebel camp, Sandipan Saha.
“There was no meeting. I went to the Assembly to take care of some documentation work as an ex-MLA. I needed a room to sit, and I couldn’t have gone to a room allotted for the ruling party. Hence, I chose to sit in the room of the opposition. This has nothing to do with me joining the rebel faction,” she maintained.
Son already joined the TMC rebel camp
Bhattacharya’s move came within weeks of her son, Sourav Basu, a former Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillor of the TMC, joining the rebel camp and attending its meetings. Basu was also seen present at the state assembly huddle.
Commenting on the development, TMC MLA and Mamata-loyalist Kunal Ghosh took a jibe at the dissident leader, stating Bhattacharya’s self-esteem never got hurt when Mamata Banerjee entrusted her with the responsibilities of multiple key departments in the government. It has only surfaced after the party lost the polls, he said.
“Had she stayed back at Trinamool Bhavan for another 15 minutes after the rebel leaders had gone there, we would have reached the venue and stopped them from taking control of the building. As the party’s state president, that was the least she could have done. Instead, she chose to leave,” Ghosh alleged.
Bhattacharya countered the allegation, stating she stuck to her routine and had left the building at her usual time.
“How can I stop the leaders if they never tried to enter my office? They were in a different part of the building and were nowhere near where I was,” she asserted.
Lost to BJP’s Sourav Sikdar in by-polls
Bhattacharya, a three-time MLA of the state, was humbled by BJP’s Sourav Sikdar at the Dum Dum Uttar constituency in the 2026 assembly elections.
Her relinquishment of party positions comes amid the Trinamool Congress’s steady erosion of its top leadership since its shock defeat in the 2026 assembly elections.
Among the most prominent exits was former Kolkata Mayor and senior minister Firhad Hakim, who joined the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel camp.
Veteran MLA Jawed Khan and senior leader Golam Rabbani also aligned with the dissident faction, while as many as 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs joined a breakaway group seeking recognition as a separate parliamentary bloc after merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India and extending support to the NDA.
The rebellion has deepened into an organisational crisis, with the dissident camp staking claim to the party’s headquarters, symbol and funds, prompting the Election Commission to begin proceedings on the dispute.
