The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) suffered another setback on Saturday as former minister Manas Bhunia resigned from the party amid a deepening internal crisis and a wave of defections.
Bhunia said he had submitted a letter to the party chief, stepping down from all organisational posts as well as his primary membership of the party. His resignation came on the same day that senior TMC MP and Mamata loyalist Sudip Bandyopadhyay met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, fuelling speculation about a possible shift towards the rebel camp.
A seven-time MLA from Sabang in Paschim Medinipur district, Bhunia joined the TMC from the Congress in 2016 after a long political career with his former party.
“A politician remains a politician till the day he dies. I will continue to work for Sabang and the people of West Bengal till my last breath,” Bhunia told PTI. However, he declined to clarify whether he would join the BJP.
“I haven't considered that yet. I will decide later,” he said.
Bhunia won the Sabang Assembly seat six times as a Congress candidate and once on a TMC ticket in the 2021 Assembly elections. However, he lost the constituency in the 2026 elections to BJP candidate Amal Kumar Panda by more than 11,000 votes.
He had also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Medinipur but was defeated by BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, then the party’s West Bengal president. Bhunia later served as a Rajya Sabha MP for the TMC until 2021.
His resignation came hours after Bandyopadhyay, accompanied by rebel TMC MP Satabdi Roy, met Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, triggering fresh speculation about growing cracks within the party. Bandyopadhyay, a six-term Lok Sabha member, later also met Amit Shah.
The developments come as the TMC grapples with what is being described as its most serious internal crisis since its formation. The party has been under pressure following its disappointing electoral performance, with several MPs and MLAs openly questioning the leadership.
Earlier this week, a group of 20 Lok Sabha MPs, reportedly led by chief whip Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking recognition as a separate bloc supporting the BJP-led NDA.
The turmoil began earlier in West Bengal Assembly, with at least 58 of the party’s 80 MLAs backing expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition and defying the party leadership’s choice of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay for the post.
The twin revolts have pushed the party, which ruled West Bengal continuously for one and a half decade, into a severe existential crisis.
