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Is The Mamata-Led TMC Merging With The Congress?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2026-06-10 15:27:43

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

As per latest reports, 19 Lok Sabha MPs of the Trinamool Congress have signed to form a separate group. It includes many who not only swore by her but also owe their position to her as they were not mass leaders but hand-picked by her. People like cricketer Yusuf Pathan or actor Sayonii Ghosh, to name just two, owe their electoral viability entirely to Mamata Banerjee and the TMC symbol. Even Shatrughan Sinha is reported to have thrown his weight behind the rebels.

They have the required numbers with them to split the party. They have dealt a crushing blow to the party and the party supremo. But what is the future path open to them? After Subhash Desai v. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra (2023), the option to exist as a separate group has been closed for breakaway legislators, even if they have brute numbers. They cannot form a new party - not even a variation of the TMC. They have to merge with an existing party having presence in the Lok Sabha.

For now, the BJP has clearly stated that they will not be admitted in the party. The breakaway group has said they will support the NDA. But how they intend to support the NDA within existing legal provisions is something neither the rebels nor the BJP have explained.

Although the TMC rebels have reportedly had a long meeting with BJP's Bhupendra Yadav, neither party chose to disclose what transpired. Nor is there any buzz about them joining the BJP.

In a separate and more interesting development, it was reported that Abhishek Banerjee had a 90-minute long meeting with Rahul Gandhi where, reportedly, it was discussed whether the Mamata-led TMC, or whatever remains of it, will merge with the Congress.

This opens up a lot of interesting possibilities. One, if the Mamata-led faction of the TMC merges with the Congress, will it be treated as the breakaway group and can it do so without having the two-thirds numbers? Two, if that happens, will the rebel group then be recognized as the 'real' TMC and allowed to remain an independent group in the house? What happens to the TMC name and the symbol? It is worth noting that these questions remain unresolved because the anti-defection law and the Symbols Order were not designed for a scenario where the leadership of a party - rather than a rebel faction - initiates a merger. That is the true novelty of this situation.

All these ifs and buts make this one of the most interesting cases in Indian political history. The next few days will tell how it pans out.

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