West Bengal Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee addresses the party’s internal split by accusing rebel leaders of links to the BJP. In a Facebook Live address, she says the dissident faction is conspiring to engineer a split and challenges them to join the BJP directly if they have “the courage.” Banerjee also argues that while individuals may leave the party, the institution of the TMC continues. She defends her leadership following what she calls the party’s worst organisational crisis and says she will proceed with the TMC’s July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally despite administrative hurdles.
The BJP responds to the allegations by attributing the departures to the end of what it describes as “cut money,” suggesting that leaders were leaving because funding ties stopped after the BJP came to power. Separately, reports say Chandrima Bhattacharya, recently appointed as state unit chief, has joined the dissident faction, highlighting continued friction within the TMC.
