NEW DELHI: A veteran of many political battles, Mamata Banerjee may be up against her most arduous challenge yet. Sources within the rebel TMC camp said they have managed the support of at least 19 Lok Sabha MPs, two-thirds of the party’s strength of 28, and will claim to be representing its parliamentary wing in the House, a strategy similar to that of the breakaway faction of its MLAs, which has captured its legislative wing in the West Bengal assembly.In a sign of the extent of TMC’s unravelling, vocal Mamata-Abhishek loyalists, most notably Saayoni Ghosh and three Muslim MPs are supporting the breakaway faction. The claim to be the “real” TMC could help them circumvent the constitutional requirement to instantly merge with BJP in order to avoid disqualification: a route that was earlier taken by Eknath Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena and then Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Both groups were later recognised by Election Commission as the real wings of the original parties and are BJP allies.

BJP poised to bag 2 RS seats amid TMC exits

The option to keep distance from BJP should work particularly for Muslim MPs who are part of the breakaway group. The rebels can also lay claim to the party’s name and symbol if they want to compound trouble for the Trinamool boss.The group is learned to comprise Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Partha Bhowmick, Asit Kumar Mal, former international cricketer Yusuf Pathan, Khalilur Rahaman, Abu Tahir Khan, Mitali Bag, Kalipada Saren Kherwal, Sharmila Sarkar, Rachna Banerjee, Jagdish Chandra Barma Basunia, Aarup Chakraborty, Deepak Dev Adhikari, June Maliah, Prasun Banerjee, Saayoni Ghosh and Mala Roy.In Rajya Sabha, the regional party lost another MP in Sushmita Dev, who was batting for Mamata till a few days back and is now expected to join BJP. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy had quit Rajya Sabha on Monday. Both the vacancies will be filled through byelections to be decided by the majority: something that will ensure gain of two more seats for BJP in the Upper House.In fact, the split in TMC, DMK’s break-up with Congress and the hollowing out of AAP’s Rajya Sabha group, with seven of them crossing over to BJP, have changed the complexion of Parliament since the end of the budget session and significantly increased govt’s advantage, expanding the room for it to push its agenda, including women’s reservation bill, on terms that the opposition had rejected it with the help of TMC and DMK.For Trinamool, the haemorrhaging represents an existential crisis. The desertions mean that Mamata can be sure of the loyalty of just a handful: a shrinking group confined to those who cannot cross over to BJP or will not be accepted by it.Ghosh and Mala Roy, who have also joined the Lok Sabha rebels led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, were among the TMC office-bearers Mamata had recently named after reconstituting her party’s organisational units in a bid to quell unrest.