Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar resigned from his parliamentary post on Sunday. (PTI File)
The recent rebellion is not just a political hiccup, but a reflection of growing discontent among the TMC leaders who feel that the party’s priorities have shifted from governance to self-preservation
At least five Rajya Sabha MPs and two Lok Sabha MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have either quit politics, left the party, or spoken out against it, only to be sidelined over the past six years.
Starting from Dinesh Trivedi to Jawhar Sircar, veteran members of the party levelled allegations — ranging from corruption and inaction to political violence — while highlighting deep cracks within the party. Several other members, including MPs also quit, but those instances were more about defection for political gain. However, these seven members, who have either quit or voiced dissent, chose to withdraw or continue with their criticism without gaining much politically from Trinamool’s opponents, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This rebellion is not just a political hiccup, but a reflection of growing discontent among the TMC leaders who feel that the party’s priorities have shifted from governance to self-preservation. Even though senior leadership of the party dismisses these departures as isolated incidents, it points to larger issues of internal decay, with disgruntled voices being silenced or marginalised.
In some cases, senior politicians, including Kunal Ghosh, who held the position of party’s state secretary, criticised some of its decisions regarding Sandeskhali incidents in which allegations of sexual assault were levelled against a local TMC leader. He also spoke against corruption and offered his resignation from certain responsibilities. But he is back into the fold again, unlike ex-MPs such as Dinesh Trivedi, Sugata Bose, Mimi Chakraborty, Mithun Chakraborty and now Jawhar Sircar.
In his resignation letter, Sircar did not sugarcoat his observations, rather his letter appeared to be direct and piercing. Trivedi did similar things, but on the floor of Parliament. Meanwhile, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, a veteran RS MP of the TMC, has spoken out against certain actions by the party and he continues his protest. Shantanu Sen, an ex-Rajya Sabha MP, also expressed similar concerns.
As the party faces criticism over its handling of corruption and violence, it remains to be seen how the TMC will address this internal unrest amid mounting external pressures.
THE TRIGGERS
The discontent has always been triggered by different incidents for different leaders. For Roy and Sen, it was RG Kar, while for Kunal Ghosh, it was Sandeshkhali and political disgruntlement against another senior MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Ghosh, in an interview to a regional channel, also highlighted the issues of corruption.
The MPs and leaders also fight and indulge in a war of words against each other.
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For instance, a recent conversation on microblogging platform X, between Ghosh and MP Deepak Adhikari aka Dev over the inauguration of certain equipment in a hospital, triggered controversy, questioning the internal unrest.
The party has on several occasions cracked down on criticism and dissent, while at times it chose to stay quiet. A senior leader and an MP said, “Unlike other parties, this also shows that there is scope for dissent in Trinamool. However, the party reserves the right to suspend a member if he is found to have crossed boundaries or acted against the party. We are now in the process of churning. Things will get better, as some people are going to have their masks off.”
