Mamata's Biggest Setback Yet: 20 TMC MPs Write To LS Speaker Seeking NDA Entry, Kakoli Ghosh Leads Revolt

Published 8 June 2026 · local

Mamata's Biggest Setback Yet: 20 TMC MPs Write To LS Speaker Seeking NDA Entry, Kakoli Ghosh Leads Revolt Reported By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026

Mamata's Biggest Setback Yet: 20 TMC MPs Write To LS Speaker Seeking NDA Entry, Kakoli Ghosh Leads Revolt Reported By, Last Updated: June 08, 2026, 15:47 IST The developments unfolded just hours after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee arrived in New Delhi to attend the INDIA bloc meeting. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, rebel Trinamool MP, is leading the group of 20 MPs who wish to join the NDA and have submitted a letter with their signatures to Om Birla. (IMAGE: PTI) At least 20 dissident Trinamool Congress MPs on Monday submitted a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking to join the Democratic Alliance (NDA). According to sources who spoke to CNN-News18, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar will lead the breakaway faction. The regional party has been witnessing growing intra-party rifts and defections following its defeat in the recent Assembly elections, which saw West Bengal elect its first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, once a close aide of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The move comes after Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray submitted his resignation earlier on Monday. The developments unfolded just hours after Banerjee arrived in New Delhi to attend the INDIA bloc meeting. The developments unfolded simultaneously in the national capital. While TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and several senior leaders attended the INDIA bloc meeting at the Constitution Club, the rebel MPs gathered at the Motilal Nehru Marg residence of Union Minister and BJP’s West Bengal election in-charge Bhupender Yadav. While Banerjee was attending the gathering, around 20 MPs, along with Ray, huddled at the residence of Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also present. Sources told News18 that rebel MPs Prasun Banerjee (Howrah), Sharmila Sarkar (Bardhaman Purba), Jagadish Chandra Basunia (Cooch Behar), Arup Chakraborty (Bankura), Kalipada Soren (Jhargram) and Asit Mal (Bolpur) attended the meeting.

At the time of writing this report, sources said Bapi Haldar (Mathurapur) had also joined the gathering. The rebels also ignored calls from fellow MP Abhishek Banerjee, sources said. Several of the MPs attending the meeting represent constituencies spread across politically significant regions of the state, including north Bengal, Junglemahal and south Bengal. Among them are MPs from Cooch Behar, Bankura and Jhargram, areas where the BJP has expanded its footprint in recent years. The geographical spread of the dissident camp suggests that the unrest within the TMC is not confined to a single faction or region. The defection comes shortly after Ritabrata Banerjee broke away from the TMC and was recognised as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly by Speaker Rathindra Bose after securing the support of 58 of the party’s 80 MLAs. Banerjee said he expects more parliamentarians to publicly distance themselves from the party in the coming days.