Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee has written a fresh letter to the Election Commission (EC), seeking an expeditious conclusion to its inquiry into the rival faction’s claim over the party and its organisational structure. Along with her August 30 letter, Banerjee submitted a communication from Amdanga MLA Pirzada Kashem Siddique, who had been associated with the Ritabrata Banerjee-led camp. Siddique’s communication purportedly questions the validity of the “special session” held by the rival faction at Novotel Kolkata on June 22, sources said.
Questions over special session
Banerjee said Siddique’s communication raised “serious procedural and legal irregularities and infirmities” surrounding the June 22 meeting, where the rival group claimed to have carried out organisational changes in the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). Siddique, in an email sent to the Chief Election Commissioner on August 25, reportedly said no prior notice or communication about the purported special session had been circulated among party members and stakeholders. Banerjee said the MLA’s communication categorically maintained that the exercise conducted at Novotel was affected by fundamental irregularities and should not be considered legally valid.
According to the former West Bengal chief minister, Siddique’s claims further supported her faction’s earlier contention that the purported reconstitution of the AITC by Ritabrata Banerjee, Arup Roy and others was “wholly illegal, mala fide and contrary to the established organisational and constitutional framework of the party”. She urged the poll panel to consider Siddique’s communication alongside the facts and documents already placed before it while examining the claims made by the rival camp.
Rival faction yet to submit claims
The dispute reached the Election Commission on July 2 when the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction approached the poll body claiming to represent the “real” AITC and sought recognition for organisational changes purportedly approved at its June 22 special session. The EC subsequently sought responses from both factions and initially asked them to make their submissions by July 6.
While the Mamata-led faction submitted its response within the stipulated deadline, the rival camp sought additional time. It was first granted an extension until July 10 and subsequently another until July 25. Banerjee had earlier written to the Election Commission on July 29, asking it to conclude the inquiry after the rival faction allegedly failed to submit its response despite being granted extensions.
The Mamata-led TMC has maintained that its existing organisational committees remain valid until 2027 under the party constitution. It has argued that the last organisational elections were conducted in 2022 and rejected the rival faction’s contention that the committees ceased to exist in 2025. The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction is yet to submit its claims before the Election Commission, according to sources, with Banerjee now asking the poll panel to bring the inquiry, pending since July 2, to an early conclusion.