Calcutta HC allows rival TMC factions to hold TMCP foundation day separately
Synopsis
A split TMC couldn't even agree on where to celebrate its student wing's birthday. The Calcutta High Court had to step in, barring both Mamata Banerjee's faction and the rival group led by Ritabrata Banerjee from their traditional Mayo Road venue and assigning them separate streets — with a 1,500-person cap each. It's a striking symbol of how completely the party has fractured since losing West Bengal in 2026.
Key Takeaways
The Calcutta High Court on 25 August allowed both TMC factions to separately celebrate TMCP Foundation Day on 28 August .
Neither faction was permitted to use the traditional venue, Mayo Road ; Mamata Banerjee 's faction was allotted Cathedral Road , Ritabrata Banerjee 's faction was allotted Rani Rashmoni Road .
Attendance at each event is capped at 1,500 participants ; events must run between noon and 3 pm .
Each faction must provide names of 15 volunteers to the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police by 6 pm Wednesday .
The TMC split followed the party's defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections .
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, 25 August granted both factions of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) permission to separately observe the foundation day of the party's student wing, Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), on 28 August — but barred both from their preferred venue of Mayo Road in central Kolkata. The ruling came from a single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, who also imposed strict conditions on crowd size, timing, and security.
Background: A Party Split After Electoral Defeat
The Trinamool Congress, founded by Mamata Banerjee, split into two factions following its ouster from power in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. What was once a unified party — which had routinely celebrated TMCP's foundation day at Mayo Road without incident — is now divided, with each faction claiming organisational legitimacy. Both approached the Calcutta High Court seeking exclusive rights to the Mayo Road venue, prompting the court to step in with a compromise.
Who Gets Which Venue
Justice Bhattacharyya's bench allocated separate locations to each faction. The original but minority faction led by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee was permitted to hold its event at Cathedral Road in central Kolkata. The rebel but majority faction — led by expelled party legislator and current Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Ritabrata Banerjee — was allotted Rani Rashmoni Road, also in central Kolkata but at a distance from Cathedral Road.
Court-Imposed Conditions
The bench placed firm guardrails on both events. Neither faction may assemble more than 1,500 participants. Both events must be held between noon and 3 pm. Each faction must submit the names of 15 volunteers to the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police by 6 pm on Wednesday. Crucially, events must be confined to one lane at their respective venues, keeping the second lane free for traffic movement.
Security and Police Arrangements
Justice Bhattacharyya directed Kolkata Police to make adequate security arrangements at both venues. The twin-event format — with rival factions holding parallel celebrations in the same city on the same day — presents a logistical challenge for law enforcement, particularly given the political tensions that have followed the TMC's split.
What This Signals
The court's intervention underscores how deeply the TMC rupture has penetrated even routine party functions. TMCP's foundation day was previously a show of unified strength; this year it becomes a measure of which faction can project greater organisational reach. The outcome on 28 August is likely to be watched closely as an early indicator of each faction's ground-level support ahead of future electoral contests.
Point of View
According to reports, commands the minority of legislators — an unusual inversion of legitimacy versus numbers. The Ritabrata Banerjee faction controls more MLAs yet lacks the symbolic capital of the party's founder. How each side performs on 28 August — in turnout, discipline, and optics — will be the first real stress test of post-split TMC politics, and both factions know it. The court's even-handed order, while legally prudent, effectively legitimises the rival group's claim to the TMCP identity, which is itself a political outcome.
NationPress
25 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Calcutta High Court intervene in the TMCP foundation day celebrations?
Both factions of the Trinamool Congress approached the Calcutta High Court seeking permission to hold the TMCP Foundation Day event at Mayo Road in central Kolkata. Since neither faction could agree, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya's bench stepped in and assigned separate venues to each, while barring both from Mayo Road.
Where will each TMC faction hold its TMCP Foundation Day event?
The faction led by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee will hold its event at Cathedral Road, while the faction led by expelled legislator and Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee will hold its event at Rani Rashmoni Road — both in central Kolkata.
What conditions has the court imposed on the events?
The court has capped attendance at 1,500 participants per event, restricted timings to noon–3 pm, required each faction to submit 15 volunteer names to the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police by 6 pm on Wednesday, and directed that events be confined to one lane at each venue.
Why has the Trinamool Congress split into two factions?
The TMC split following the party's defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, after which a rebel group — described as the majority faction — broke away from the original leadership of Mamata Banerjee. The expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee now leads the rebel faction and serves as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.
What is the significance of the TMCP Foundation Day venue dispute?
Mayo Road has historically been the site of TMCP's foundation day celebrations and carried symbolic importance for the unified party. The dispute over the venue reflects the broader organisational and political contest between the two factions for legitimacy and grassroots support in a post-split West Bengal.
