Kolkata: The internal crisis within the All India Trinamool Congress intensified on Saturday after senior leader Chandrima Bhattacharya resigned from all party positions, delivering another setback to the camp led by Mamata Banerjee following the party’s defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Bhattacharya, a former West Bengal finance minister and one of Banerjee’s close associates, stepped down from every organisational responsibility within the party, including her role as the Trinamool Congress’s West Bengal state president. She had been appointed to the post only a month ago during a restructuring exercise undertaken after the party’s electoral setback.
In her resignation letter, Bhattacharya said she was relinquishing the state president’s post assigned to her at the party’s June 3 meeting in Kalighat. She also resigned as the authorised signatory for the party and its affiliated organisations’ bank accounts and withdrew from her role as the party’s authorised representative before the Election Commission of India.
Her exit comes amid widening dissent within the Trinamool Congress, which has been grappling with resignations, defections and an open rebellion following its loss in the Assembly elections. The party has witnessed growing organisational instability, with several leaders distancing themselves from the leadership and rival factions staking claim to the party’s organisational structure.
Bhattacharya has long been regarded as one of Mamata Banerjee’s trusted lieutenants. Over the years, she handled key portfolios, including Finance, Health and Family Welfare, Land and Land Reforms, and Refugee and Rehabilitation in the West Bengal government, besides serving as a senior legal and organisational face of the party.
Reacting on this development, TMC MLA and spokesperson, Kunal Ghosh, said he would speak over the matter later. “Anyone can make any decision but when Mamata Banerjee was the CM, she (Chandrima Bhattacharya) had the most important ministry (department). Now she is showing arrogance,” he told the reporters.
Her resignation is being viewed as another significant blow to the Trinamool Congress at a time when the party is attempting to recover from its electoral defeat and contain internal divisions.
