The ongoing crisis within the Trinamool Congress took a new turn on Thursday with ‘party treasurer’ Aroop Biswas writing to a private bank seeking restrictions on the operation of the party’s accounts. Biswas cited uncertainty over its legitimate leadership amid rebellions and splits by MLAs and MPs.
The move is being seen as a fresh setback for the camp led by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, coming days after dissident MLAs and MPs challenged the authority of the Trinamool Congress’s central leadership following the party’s defeat in the assembly polls, and staked claim to being the ‘real’ TMC.
A two-page letter, addressed to the manager of the bank’s Central Plaza branch in Kolkata, made rounds on social media. LiveMint has not independently verified the authenticity of the letter.
According to the 12 June letter, Biswas sought maintenance of status quo on the accounts and requested that no debit transactions or changes in operational mandates be permitted until the dispute over the party’s control is resolved.
The plea drew backing from Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, who said the request had “substance”.
“I support Aroop Biswas’s plea to freeze the TMC accounts. What is the guarantee that proceeds of cut money are not parked in those accounts? If the accounts are frozen, that would be the correct step,” Ritabrata said.
The development assumes significance as Biswas was removed as treasurer during a reorganisation announced by the Mamata Banerjee camp on June 5, with former MP Subhasish Chakraborty being named to the post.
Biswas has, however, described himself as the treasurer of the party in the letter. Sources in the rebel camp told PTI that the letter reflected growing concerns over who exercises control over the party’s assets and finances amid the ongoing leadership struggle.
Biswas also expressed apprehension that party funds could be utilised or appropriated by persons not duly authorised to do so and warned about the possibility of signed cheques being misused or presented for encashment amid the dispute.
In one passage, he reportedly stated that he had, in the past, signed blank or pre-approved cheques for organisational convenience and feared they could now be misused in view of the ongoing conflict within the party.
TMC’s ₹1000 Crore assets
The TMC has assets worth ₹1,081.78 crore, according to the 2024-25 audit report submitted with the Election Commission. This includes ₹625.78 crore is in bank accounts besides ₹250.77 crore in investments and ₹50 crore in cheque. The TMC was the second-highest recipient of electoral bonds from April 2019 till January 2024.
The Mamata-led party is facing unprecedented crisis in the past over one month after its electoral debacle in West Bengal where the BJP had stormed to power. Besides MPs, around 60 MLAs have also risen in rebellion against the leadership, especially National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The first rupture emerged in the state assembly, where 58 dissident TMC MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee broke ranks with the party leadership, secured recognition from the Speaker as the dominant legislature group and elected him as the Leader of the Opposition.
The rebellion later spread to Parliament, where 20 TMC MPs, including senior leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, moved away from the party’s central leadership and sought a merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), claiming support of more than two-thirds of the party’s Lok Sabha members.
Legal and political battles
The twin revolts have triggered parallel legal and political battles over anti-defection provisions, legislative recognition, ownership of the party’s political legacy and, increasingly, control over organisational resources.
TMC MLA Kanailal Agarwal, aligned with the dissident camp, defended Biswas’s move. “Aroop Biswas, as the treasurer of the party, is well within his rights to write to the bank to freeze the accounts if he feels there may be attempts to misuse party funds,” Agarwal told PTI.
Subhasish Chakraborty, who was appointed treasurer by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction earlier this month, told PTI he was unaware of the letter.
“I do not know anything about this. I am the treasurer of the state organisation. Aroop was the treasurer of the All India Trinamool Congress at the national level. But right now there is only one treasurer, and that’s me,” Chakraborty said.
What happens to ₹1000 Crore TMC assets?
As things stand, the rebel MPs have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing their decision to support the NDA government. But they have not so far staked claim to the control of the party name and symbol.
Aroop Biswas, as the treasurer of the party, is well within his rights to write to the bank to freeze the accounts if he feels there may be attempts to misuse party funds.
For that the rebel group can move the Election Commission under the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968. Most of times, including in the Shiv Sena split a few years ago, the matter reaches the courts of law. Till then, the existing persons authorised by the real political party have control over the assets.
What happened in Shiv Sena split
Supreme Court judgments in the past had made it clear that the parties need to move civil courts, not the EC, for control of assets, according to a former election commission official who soke on condition of anonymity with Indian Express.
In case of Shiv Sena split, owenership of assets remains divided between the two factions following the party split. While the Eknath Shinde faction was recognized as the real Shiv Sena, the majority of the physical properties and trusts remain under the control of Uddhav Thackeray’s camp (Shiv Sena UBT)
Despite getting the Sena’s official name and poll symbol, the party’s headquarters, most of the branch offices in Mumbai and publications remain out of bounds for the Shinde faction.
#TMCs #1000crore #assets #split #Aroop #Biswas #seeks #account #freeze
