New Delhi: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee held talks with senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in Delhi amid a deepening political crisis within her party and renewed efforts to strengthen coordination among opposition parties.
The meeting took place at Sonia Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence on Tuesday, June 9. According to reports citing TMC sources, the discussion lasted around an hour and focused mainly on better coordination among INDIA bloc parties. The meeting came a day after opposition leaders held a wider INDIA bloc meeting, where unity and joint strategy were discussed.
The timing of the meeting has drawn political attention because the Trinamool Congress is facing one of its most serious internal challenges in recent years. Reports suggest that a section of party MPs has shown signs of rebellion, while the leadership is also dealing with legal and organisational pressure in West Bengal.
The crisis has intensified after rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar reportedly claimed support from a group of party MPs and approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking recognition of a separate parliamentary group. The development has triggered sharp reactions within the TMC, with loyalists accusing the rebels of weakening the party at a crucial time.
The meeting also came against the backdrop of CID searches at premises linked to the TMC leadership in Kolkata. The West Bengal CID recently searched the Trinamool office inside Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence complex and an office linked to Abhishek Banerjee on Camac Street in connection with an alleged forged signature case involving party MLAs.
Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP, has also skipped a third CID notice in the case, citing prior commitments in Delhi. He has challenged the matter before the Calcutta High Court.
Neither Mamata Banerjee nor Sonia Gandhi made a detailed public statement after the meeting. However, the interaction is being viewed as politically significant, especially at a time when opposition parties are trying to maintain unity and the TMC is attempting to manage internal dissent.
For Mamata Banerjee, the immediate challenge is twofold. She must contain the rebellion within the TMC while also keeping her party relevant in the national opposition space. The meeting with Sonia Gandhi indicates that despite internal pressure, the TMC leadership is still engaging with the wider opposition framework ahead of future political battles.