Trinamool Congress is headed for a split West Bengal Minister and senior Bharatiya Janta Party leader Tapas Roy said on Tuesday (June 2, 2026). This comes amidst speculation that several MLAs are joining two expelled MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha in parting ways with the TMC.

“Trinamool Congress is crumbling into pieces. The situation is like Maharashtra; 50 TMC MLAs have gone to the speaker along with Ritabrata Banerjee,” Mr. Roy posted on his social media platforms.

After this post in the morning, Ritabrata Banerjee entered the Assembly and Tapas Roy followed.

Outside the Assembly, Mr. Roy said that the TMC is in a dire state and that the party is now split into two and that the leaders are now defying and denying both Ms. Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee. “This was inevitable... I am very happy that this has happened... TMC will cease to exist,” Mr. Roy added. 

On June 1, there was speculation that Ritabrata Banerjee met with the 50 TMC MLAs. However, Ritabrata Banerjee did not confirm what they discussed.

“Mamata Banerjee is a tall leader. I may be expelled from the party, but I have not lost respect for her. She is still my leader,” Mr. Ritabrata Banerjee said while heading to the Assembly on Tuesday.  

He said that the party that was established by Mamata Banerjee has been lost to the corporatised version of the TMC that came into being through Abhishek Banerjee’s leadership. He added that he does not approve of what the party has become under the general secretary. 

Forged signatures

This comes after the two expelled MLAs claimed that many signatures were forged on a letter that was submitted to the Assembly by the TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, naming their selection for Leader of Opposition.

The two MLAs from Entally and Uluberia Purba had submitted a letter to the Assembly Speaker to complain about the alleged forged signature issue. The letter submitted by Abhishek Banerjee allegedly had around 70 MLAs signatures, among them around 10-12 names were written in bold, which Ritabrata Banerjee claimed were forged.

Abhishek Banerjee was summoned by the CID for further investigation into the matter on June 1. However, he has asked for 15 days to appear before the authorities citing health issues. 

Meanwhile, senior TMC MLA and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh sought to meet the Speaker and submit a new letter for the LoP selection. However, he claimed that the Speaker did not meet him or receive their letter. 

“I went to the Speaker’s office to submit a new letter from the party. The Speaker was not there. According to the rule, we gave it to his office secretary. Today, the same person is saying that the Speaker has verbally instructed him that he cannot receive any letter... Is this a joke?” Mr. Ghosh said. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Roy questioned the credibility of the new letter submitted by Mr. Ghosh and said that it does not contain the signatures of any MLAs but only has the signature of Abhishek Banerjee. 

Real TMC

Suspended TMC leader Riju Dutta on the other hand claimed that around 50 MLAs are defecting from the party and since they now have majority, they will choose Ritabrata Banerjee as their Leader of Opposition. 

“We are the two-thirds majority. Around 50 MLAs are with us. We are the real Trinamool Congress... If we have two-third majority, then the TMC symbol should be ours,” Mr. Dutta said. He further claimed that whoever has entered the party through Abhishek Banerjee has betrayed the party and its leaders and the party general secretary must take responsibility for it. He also said that all the defecting MLAs are angry with both I-PAC and Abhishek Banerjee for the fate of the party.