New Delhi: In a massive blow to the beleaguered Trinamool Congress, veteran leader and former West Bengal minister Manas Bhunia resigned from the party on Saturday. This significant departure occurred on the same day that senior parliamentarian Sudip Bandyopadhyay, widely considered a key lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee, crossed over to the rebel faction after holding high level meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
The development marks an alarming escalation in the ongoing organizational collapse within the Trinamool Congress following its defeat in the recent West Bengal assembly elections. Bhunia, a veteran politician and seven time lawmaker from the Sabang constituency in Paschim Medinipur district, officially stepped down from all organizational posts as well as his primary membership. He had originally joined the ruling regional party from the Indian National Congress in 2016 and subsequently served as a minister and a Rajya Sabha member.
Important political developments unfolded rapidly as Bhunia sent his resignation directly to party supremo Mamata Banerjee. Speaking on his future path, Bhunia stated that a politician remains a politician till the day he dies and asserted his commitment to continue working for the people of Sabang and West Bengal. However, he declined to clarify immediate plans of joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, noting that he had not considered it yet and would take a decision later. Bhunia had recently lost his traditional Sabang seat to the saffron party candidate Amal Kumar Panda by a margin of over eleven thousand votes.
Concurrently, the crisis in New Delhi deepened as Sudip Bandyopadhyay flew to the national capital to meet Union Ministers Amit Shah and Bhupender Yadav alongside rebel lawmaker Satabdi Roy. This last minute switch by Bandyopadhyay has pushed the total number of dissident Lok Sabha members to twenty out of twenty eight party representatives. The sudden defection triggered immediate panic in Kolkata, prompting senior leaders to rush to Banerjee Kalighat residence to draft a counter offensive strategy.
The visible fracturing of the party top brass has created intense political uncertainty among ground level party workers and the general public across West Bengal. The dissident faction is now preparing to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday to officially stake their claim as the genuine parliamentary group representing the party, aiming to align themselves with the National Democratic Alliance.
While Trinamool loyalists argue that the anti defection laws provide zero protection for such a split and will lead to disqualification, the high profile desertions have undeniably altered the state political landscape. As the rebel group moves to execute its strategy in Parliament, the coming days will serve as an ultimate test of survival for the remaining leadership in West Bengal.