KOLKATA — Exposing a deep financial and political fracture within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), former party treasurer Aroop Biswas has written to HDFC Bank demanding an immediate freeze on the party’s central accounts.
The move comes as the party reels from a historic defeat in the April-May 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, where the BJP crossed the 200-seat mark in the 294-seat Assembly, reducing Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year undefeated administration to just 80 seats.
The Fight Over Party Funds
In his letter to an HDFC Bank branch in Kolkata, Biswas cited a total breakdown in the party’s administrative hierarchy to justify blocking all debit transactions:
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Mass Defections: Biswas claimed that the authority and assets of the party are under severe dispute, noting that 20 out of 28 TMC MPs and 58 out of 60 MLAs have either left the party or openly revolted.
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Misuse Apprehension: Operating under what he called a “bona fide apprehension,” Biswas warned the bank that cheques signed by rebel leaders or those whose authority is now contested could be misused to siphon off organizational funds.
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The Authorization Loophole: While the request targets asset protection, TMC insiders revealed that Biswas was actually removed from the treasurer post on June 5 and replaced by Subhashish Chakravarty. Biswas sent the freeze request on June 12—seven days after his dismissal—raising questions about his legal standing to freeze the accounts.
The Constitutional Split: Avoiding Defection
The financial standoff highlights a highly coordinated, two-thirds constitutional rebellion designed to permanently cripple the TMC’s legislative presence:
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The Two-Thirds Threshold: By rallying 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs, the rebel faction has successfully bypassed the stringent Anti-Defection Law, which requires a minimum two-thirds majority to avoid disqualification.
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The Merger Strategy: To secure their seats ahead of an expected alignment with the BJP, the rebel MPs have executed a formal merger with a Tripura-based outfit, the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and have officially notified Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
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Leadership Backlash: The core driver of the rebellion is widespread anger over concentrated power within the party, with rebels openly targeting Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and her nephew, TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Shift in Loyalty
The emotional and political weight of the collapse was highlighted by four-time MP Satabdi Roy, a staunch Banerjee loyalist since 2009, who has joined the rebellion.
Expressing that the former Chief Minister had changed fundamentally post-election, Roy noted that the scale of internal stagnation left the rebels with no choice but to shift their alignment toward the BJP, signaling a complete realignment of West Bengal’s political landscape.
