Accept rebel TMC MLAs or risk a party split. Mamata in Catch-22 bind

Key points

• A dramatic day inside the West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday saw the Trinamool Congress (TMC) confront an unprecedented internal rupture, as a breakaway group of MLAs openly staked claim to a separate leadership structure, setting up a direct challenge to the Mamata Banerjee-led party's central command.
• The political crisis unfolded early in the day when suspended TMC leaders Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha arrived at the Assembly along with a group of rebel legislators, signalling the formal consolidation of a splinter faction within the party's legislative ranks.
• Within hours, multiple MLAs reached the Assembly in unmarked and tinted vehicles, with several openly acknowledging that they were aligning with a new bloc under Ritabrata Banerjee's leadership.
• By mid-morning, the rebel camp claimed the support of 60 TMC MLAs, with nearly 25 already present inside the Assembly complex.
• NEW LEADERSHIP CLAIM FORMALISED The turning point came when the rebel...