TMC Split Deepens as Ritabrata Describes Foiled Document Heist

The rift within the Trinamool Congress deepened on Monday after Ritabrata Banerjee, the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, accused supporters of Mamata Banerjee of trying to take away documents that were to be handed over to the Election Commission of India. Banerjee leads the rebel group, which claims a majority.

The documents are sworn statements that each faction is submitting to support its claim to the party's original name, 'All India Trinamool Congress', and its symbol, 'Phool aur Ghaas'. The poll body has sought these affidavits from both sides as it moves toward a final decision.

In a post on social media, Banerjee said a truck headed from Kolkata to New Delhi had been the target of an attempted robbery. The truck was transporting documents belonging to his group, he said, and his workers managed to prevent them from being seized.

He described a timeline in which the Kalighat camp sent its affidavits by chartered flight to Delhi on the evening of the 25th. His own documents, he said, were travelling by road after his workers set out on the morning of the 24th. Roughly half an hour before the alleged incident, he claimed, an attempt was made to take control of the truck.

Banerjee said his supporters had fought back courageously and that the struggle would go on. He presented it as a battle between 'chartered culture' and grassroots determination, and warned that those seeking to plunder through organised means would not succeed.

The ECI had earlier frozen the original name and symbol. Mamata Banerjee's faction was given the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and the football player symbol, whereas Banerjee's faction received 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and the envelope symbol.

With both groups now competing for the original identity, the allegations have further sharpened the political debate in West Bengal.