Congress merger buzz, Saayoni, other loyals ditch Mamata: What's happening in TMC

THe Trinamool us congress, founded by former westward Bengal chief government minister Mamata Banerjee, seems to be all o'er the localize with MPs and MLAs forming rebel camps, mayors stepping down and now seemingly divided stands over speculation of merger with the Congress.Adding to back-to-back setbacks, Mamata Banerjee lost another Rajya Sabha MP — Prakash Chik Baraik — on Thursday, the third resignation this week. On Wednesday, Sushmita Dev announced her resignation as Rajya Sabha MP and exit from the TMC. Dev's exit came two days after TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Ray resigned from the Rajya Sabha, alleging “unbridled corruption” and “anarchical rule” of the party. Follow TMC crisis June 11 updates hereThe resignations of Dev and Ray come as the latest blow after an unsteady week for Mamata Banerjee, with TMC suffering a split in Bengal assembly - with 58 lawmakers backing rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee, who staked claim to the Leader of the Opposition position - and also showing signs of cracks in Parliament with MP Kakoli Ghosh this Monday offering support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), claiming she has backing of 19 other MPs — the number require to evade anti-defection law.Amid the turmoil, Mamata Banerjee met senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, a meeting after which speculation of TMC's “merger” with the Grand Old Party floated.What is happening in TMC | Top points-MLAs' rebellion: Speaker Rathindra Nath Bose last week recognised 58 rebel TMC MLAs, led by MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, as the principal opposition bloc. The rebels have accused the party leadership of functioning in an authoritarian manner and have openly challenged the role of TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. The 58 lawmakers backed Ritabrata Banerjee, who staked claim to the Leader of the Opposition position.-MPs' rebellion: On Monday, another split faction of sorts emerged out of the TMC with MP Kakoli Ghosh saying she has the backing of 19 MPs and is willing to extend support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA with them. “Nearly 20 TMC MPs, including me, have decided to support the NDA for Bengal’s development. We have decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and formally support the NDA,” an earlier HT report quoted as saying the four-term MP, who resigned from all party posts last week. “The letter has already reached the speaker. We have sought separate seating arrangements as a separate bloc,” she added later in the evening. The rebels need at least 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha members of the TMC to escape anti-defection proceedings.-Heavy-weights joining camp: The list of MPs in the rebel camp includes some TMC heavy-weights, including firebrand leader and Jadavpur MP Saayoni Ghosh. While Saayoni Ghosh and Kolkata Dakshin MP Mala Roy joined the dissident lawmakers on Wednesday, those said to be in the rebel camp also include: MPs Abu Taher, Asit Mal, Arup Chakraborty, Kalipada Soren, Jagadish Basunia, Prasun Banerjee, Sharmila Sarkar, Satabdi Roy, Yusuf Pathan, June Malia, Khalilur Rahaman, Bapi Halder, Rachana Banerjee, Mitali Bag, Dev Adhikari and Partha Bhowmick. While the name of Shatrughan Sinha was also reported to be among the rebels, TMC sources have claimed that the actor-turned politician is standing by Mamata Banerjee, according to PTI news agency.-Kalyan Banerjee's ultimatum: Amid the exodus of key leaders, a major blow, possibly the biggest, brewed for Mamata Banerjee on Thursday as one of her closest aide - Kalyan Banerjee - asked her to choose between him and her nephew, Abhishek. -Congress-TMC merger buzz: The intensifying internal rift within the TMC fuelled speculation of a possible merger of the party with the Congress, buzz that gained momentum after Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday. However, the response to merger buzz remained divided with TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee meeting Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to “explore possibilities to deepen ties” and Congress describing the speculation as inaccurate.-Merger speculation ‘baseless’: Talks of a merger between the Congress and the TMC are baseless, people familiar with the matter told HT on Wednesday, asserting that there is no proposal under consideration for the two parties to merge. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also said in a post on X: “Some news reports on what supposedly transpired in the meeting between Smt Sonia Gandhi and Ms. Mamata Banerjee are completely inaccurate. The meeting was very cordial and many personal matters were talked about, given the long relationship they have had.”-Mayor exits, arrests in TMC: Against the above backdrop, fresh blow came for Mamata Banerjee as Firhad Hakim and Krishna Chakraborty of the party resigned as Kolkata and Bidhannagar municipal corporations last week. On Monday, Hakim, a prominent minority face, appeared to join the rebel group. Meanwhile, TMC leader Jahangir Khan was arrested on Monday near the India-Nepal border in connection with an extortion case, police said. The arrest comes after Khan had allegedly been evading law enforcement agencies for several days amid multiple criminal investigations.