Trinamool crisis: Saugata Roy calls rebel MPs' moves 'immoral, unethical'
Synopsis
A rebellion is brewing inside Trinamool Congress's Lok Sabha bloc — and it has names, signatures, and alleged BJP fingerprints. With 19 MPs' signatures reportedly submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker and senior MP Saugata Roy publicly calling the moves 'immoral and unethical,' the TMC faces its most serious internal fracture in years, with Operation Lotus squarely in the frame.
Key Takeaways
Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on 12 June condemned rebel MPs' actions as 'immoral and unethical.' Three pages bearing signatures of 19 TMC Lok Sabha members surfaced, reportedly submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office ; authenticity unverified.
The document is led by Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar (Barasat) and Satabdi Roy (Birbhum), both four-time MPs.
Roy alleged BJP 's 'Operation Lotus' is behind the rebellion, citing rebel meetings with Union Minister Bhupender Yadav and planned meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah .
Suvendu Adhikari reportedly visited Satabdi Roy's residence and met dissident leaders in Kolkata on the same evening.
The exact number of signatories — 18, 19, or 20 — remained disputed, as did whether the pages form part of a complete letter.
All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy on Friday, 12 June condemned the growing rebellion within the party, calling the actions of dissident Lok Sabha members 'immoral and unethical.' Roy's remarks came as three pages bearing the signatures of 19 Trinamool MPs surfaced, reportedly submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office, deepening the factional crisis within the TMC's parliamentary bloc.
Roy's Charge Against Rebel MPs
Speaking to reporters, Saugata Roy said that some lawmakers were denying having signed any document, yet their names continued to circulate in the media. 'Some people are claiming that they did not sign, but their names are still being used. A list of signatures is being circulated in the media. It is still not clear whether 18, 19, or 20 people have signed,' he said. Roy added: 'I only want to say that whatever they are doing is immoral and unethical.'
Roy pointedly questioned the loyalty of the dissidents, noting that all of them had won their seats on the Trinamool Congress symbol and with active campaigning by party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 'What happened all of a sudden that they are now thinking of leaving the party?' he asked.
Operation Lotus Allegations
Roy directly accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of engineering what he called 'Operation Lotus' — a term used for alleged BJP attempts to poach legislators from rival parties. He said the dissident MPs had met Union Minister Bhupender Yadav and were reportedly planning to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 'All these developments are wrong. Such things should not happen in politics, and all this is happening because of Operation Lotus. The BJP is trying to increase its numbers,' Roy said.
He also noted that Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, had visited the residence of TMC MP Satabdi Roy and subsequently met dissident leaders in Kolkata. Roy said Adhikari was 'trying to push Operation Lotus forward.'
The Signature Pages and Their Disputed Authenticity
The three pages that circulated on Friday reportedly carry the signatures of 19 Trinamool Lok Sabha members, with the document said to claim they represent the main and majority bloc of the party in the lower house. The first signature on the document is that of Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a four-time MP from Barasat in North 24 Parganas, and the second is that of actress-turned-politician Satabdi Roy, also a four-time MP from Birbhum.
The remaining 17 signatures reportedly belong to: Bapi Halder (Mathurapur), Sharmila Sarkar (Burdwan East), Prasun Banerjee (Howrah), Jagadish Verma Basunia (Cooch Behar), Asit Mal (Bolpur), Arup Chakraborty (Bankura), Kalipada Soren (Jhargram), Deepak Adhikari a.k.a. Dev (Ghatal), June Malia (Medinipur), Partha Bhowmik (Barrackpore), Khalilur Rahman (Jangipur), Abu Taher Khan (Murshidabad), Yusuf Pathan (Baharampur), Mitali Bagh (Arambagh), Mala Roy (Kolkata Dakshin), Rachana Banerjee (Hooghly), and Sayoni Ghosh (Jadavpur). However, the authenticity of these pages could not be independently verified.
Confusion Over Numbers and the Speaker's Office
Uncertainty persisted on Friday over whether the three pages are the concluding sections of a longer letter reportedly submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office. The exact number of signatories also remained disputed, with figures of 18, 19, and 20 all in circulation. The two-thirds majority threshold — relevant under anti-defection law for a recognised split — was reportedly being discussed among the dissidents, though no formal split has been announced.
What Comes Next
The Trinamool Congress has not yet issued a formal response to the circulating documents. Whether the Lok Sabha Speaker's office acknowledges any submission from the dissident group could determine the legal and political standing of the faction. With the BJP allegedly facilitating contact between the rebels and central leadership, the coming days are likely to be critical for TMC's parliamentary arithmetic.
Point of View
The BJP contact, and the two-thirds arithmetic all point to a coordinated play. What is striking is that some signatories are publicly denying involvement even as their names appear on the list, suggesting either coercion or a deliberate ambiguity designed to give rebels a way back if the gambit fails. Mamata Banerjee built the TMC on personal loyalty, not institutional structures, and that model is now its vulnerability. If even a fraction of these MPs are genuinely wavering, the party's parliamentary relevance — already diminished after the 2024 general elections — faces a structural test that no amount of moral condemnation from Saugata Roy can resolve.
NationPress
28 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Trinamool Congress rebellion about?
A group of reportedly 19 Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MPs have allegedly signed a document submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office, claiming to represent the party's main parliamentary bloc. The move signals a potential factional split, with senior MP Saugata Roy calling it 'immoral and unethical.'
What is Operation Lotus and why is it relevant here?
Operation Lotus is a term used to describe alleged BJP efforts to engineer defections from rival parties to boost its own numbers. Saugata Roy directly accused the BJP of orchestrating the TMC rebellion, citing rebel MPs' meetings with Union Minister Bhupender Yadav and planned meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah.
Who are the key figures leading the TMC dissident group?
The dissident group is reportedly led by Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a four-time MP from Barasat, and Satabdi Roy, an actress-turned-politician and four-time MP from Birbhum. Their signatures appear first on the three circulated pages.
Have the signatures been verified?
No. The authenticity of the three pages bearing the signatures of 19 Lok Sabha members could not be independently verified as of Friday, 12 June. Additionally, some MPs whose names appear on the list have reportedly denied signing any document.
What happens if the TMC split is formalised?
Under the anti-defection law, a recognised split requires at least two-thirds of a party's legislative strength. The dissidents are reportedly discussing this threshold. If formalised and accepted by the Lok Sabha Speaker, the breakaway group could gain separate recognition, significantly altering TMC's parliamentary standing.
