Arup Roy replaces Mamata as ‘TMC chief’, rebels form 30-member working committee

4 min readKolkataJun 22, 2026 09:37 PM IST

In another major jolt to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, the rebel party MLAs, led by Ritabrata Banerjee, held a meeting at a private hotel in Kolkata on Monday and named senior MLA Arup Roy as the chairperson of what they described as the “real TMC”.

With the decision, the rebels claimed to have removed Mamata as the TMC chairperson, even as her loyalists maintained she was their party chief.

Around 4 pm on Monday, a section of the rebel TMC MLAs and councilors of various municipalities held a “special session of the All India Trinamool Congress”. About 40 councillors from Kolkata, Baharampur, Uttarpara, Sreerampur and Dumdum, participated in the meeting.

A 30-member national working committee, including four vice-presidents and four general secretaries, was formed after the meeting.

Addressing a press conference, Ritabarata said: “We have held a special session today (Monday) and delegates have elected the national working committee. Arup Roy, one of the senior party leaders, has been elected as chairperson. He was with the party from the beginning; 29 other members have been elected in the committee.”

On Mamata’s role, he said: “We want Didi (Mamata Banerjee) to be our chief adviser.”

“We have done this following rules and party constitution. We will inform the Election Commission about our decision. We are the Trinamool Congress. We will shortly set up a state committee, district committees, spokesperson and frontal organisations,” he said.

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On the working committee led by Mamata, Ritabrata said: “What was being shown as the national working committee (by Mamata loyalists) is vague. Those whose names were announced resigned the next day. We have followed all rules and regulations.”

Asked about Diamond Harbour MP and Mamta’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, he said, “His name was neither mentioned nor discussed.”

Speaking to the media, Arup Roy said, “We will all work together. These are tough times for the party and we need to stand with our workers.”

Roy’s appointment has been challenged by Mamata loyalists. Speaking to the media, former minister Madan Mitra said, “There is a party constitution and Mamata Banerjee is the chairperson of the party. This (new party structure) simply cannot be done. They (rebel group) cannot do this.”

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At the special session, rebel MLAs Aroop Biswas, Javed Khan, Rathin Ghosh and former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim were appointed as party vice-presidents, while Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sabina Yasmin were named new general secretaries.

The sources said a hoarding placed on the stage during the meeting did not have the photos of Mamata or Abhishek, but the party symbol and portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and B R Ambedkar were prominently placed.

On June 3, around 60 out of 80 TMC MLAs rebelled against the party leadership and chose Ritabrata as the new Leader of Opposition. Speaker Rathindra Ghosh accepted Ritabrata as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

Shortly thereafter, a section of the TMC’s Lok Sabha MPs, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, also revolted. They claim to have the support of 20 MPs and have approached the Speaker for merging with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India.

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