As the Trinamool Congress goes through a churn within, several rumours have gained traction, including a potential merger with the Congress. However, the party's Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly ruled out any such rumours.
Banerjee said his camp enjoys the support of 64 MLAs currently, up from the original 58 who had earlier signed a letter of support. The six new joinees in the rebel camp will soon formally submit a letter to the Speaker.
"Who is merging with whom? As far as we are concerned and based on what I know, the MPs aren't going, we aren't going, the municipal representatives aren't going, the Zilla Parishad members aren't going, and the Panchayat members aren't going. So, who is going? There is no question of a merger at all," he asserted.
This comes as 19 TMC MPs joined the rebel camp led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. Among the prominent faces were cricketer Yusuf Pathan, veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha, Mamata loyalist Saayoni Ghosh and others.
Dastidar clarified that the rebels are not planning to join the BJP and will instead support the NDA.
This comes as TMC MP Mahua Moitra slammed the rebel faction as traitors and said that even if they get two-thirds of the MPs, their only option is to merge with the BJP along with two-thirds of the political party.
"Even if traitors get 19 MPs (2/3), which they have not - only option is to merge with BJP along with 2/3 of political party. Bhupinder Yadav & @loksabhaspeaker cannot create separate political party or faction. 5 judge bench in Subhash Desai vs. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra (2023), settled this," she posted on X.
In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Moitra said that she has respect for CM Suvendu Adhikari as he left the TMC for the BJP in a "clean, transparent way".
"I could have been a rebel and done what Suvendu did. Suvendu said I want to be the next person in command. As long as Abhishek is there, I will not get that spot. Hence, I will part ways. I will go to BJP. There’s a certain amount of clean, transparent way of doing that. I respect that. I have respect for Suvendu. I have a very good personal equation with him, which has never got spoilt. I have not been in touch with him since he left but he’s put his money where his mouth is," she told the news outlet.
She then went on to slam the rebel TMC MPs for not doing what Suvendu did and quitting the party before the election. "So why don’t any of these people? If any of these 60 MLAs had a problem with Abhishek, why did they not quit the party before the 2026 elections, join the BJP and win on a BJP ticket?" she asked.
