Sudip Bandyopadhyay, senior All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Lok Sabha MP, on Sunday, 14 June publicly backed the breakaway faction of TMC parliamentarians and echoed their call for party chief Mamata Banerjee to serve as an advisor to the rebel group. His remarks mark the first time the 77-year-old veteran spoke to the media after news of his alignment with the rebels emerged on Saturday.

Bandyopadhyay Speaks Out

Bandyopadhyay clarified that he has not yet officially signed the draft letter prepared by the rebel MPs for submission before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking formal recognition of the breakaway faction. He credited Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar — who signed the draft as Chief Whip of the group — as the driving force behind the exercise. 'Though there has been pressure on me to assume the role, Kakoli has always been the person behind the exercise,' he said.

He added that some MPs are expected to press him again to take on a leadership role, but he maintained he did not intend to do so at this stage. Ghosh Dastidar had previously served as the undivided TMC's Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha before being removed, with Kalyan Banerjee — a Mamata loyalist — taking over.

Meetings in Delhi Raise Questions

On reaching New Delhi on Saturday, Bandyopadhyay reportedly met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, followed by a visit to Home Minister Amit Shah. He confirmed that his meeting with Shah lasted approximately 70 minutes, though he declined to reveal specifics. He noted that Shah had enquired about Mamata Banerjee's health and well-being.

Bandyopadhyay also disclosed that West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had been in contact with him on Sunday and was expected to travel to Delhi to meet him later in the evening. 'I've said that I'll sign the letter in his presence. So, I'm expecting him to come here sometime in the night,' he said.

A Long History With Mamata — and One Rupture

Bandyopadhyay has been widely regarded as one of Mamata Banerjee's closest confidantes in Parliament, having backed her through decades of political battles. However, he was temporarily expelled from the TMC in 2023 after meeting then Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, which the party leadership interpreted as an attempt to seek a ministerial berth in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Bandyopadhyay has consistently disputed that characterisation, maintaining that the meeting was to formally thank Advani for the Union government's allocation of funds for the restoration of Swami Vivekananda's birthplace in Kolkata. The episode nonetheless triggered a political storm within the TMC and strained his relationship with Mamata.

What This Means for the TMC

The rebel faction's move — and Bandyopadhyay's public endorsement of it — represents one of the most significant internal challenges the TMC has faced in recent years. The group's decision to seek formal recognition from the Lok Sabha Speaker, and their simultaneous outreach to Mamata to join as an advisor, signals an attempt to retain her political legitimacy while operating outside the party's official structure.

Whether Mamata Banerjee responds to the overture, and how the TMC's central leadership reacts to Bandyopadhyay's open defection, is expected to become clearer in the coming days.