New Delhi, Sep 12 (PTI) The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress on Saturday cited a provision in its constitution prescribing a five-year term for the party’s organisational committees and office-bearers to reject the rival faction’s claim that the existing organisational structure had ceased to be valid in 2025.
Party sources pointed to the 2010 version of the party constitution available with the Election Commission (EC), which says under Rule 9(a): “The term of every Trinamool Congress Committee and of its Office Bearers, Executive Committee and members shall ordinarily be five years.” According to the PDF uploaded on the EC website, the copy of the constitution was printed in June 2010.
“The constitution of the TMC is unambiguous. Organisational elections are to be held every five years. The same has been happening for nearly two decades in five-year cycles,” TMC sources said.
The sources said the latest All India Trinamool Congress constitution submitted by the party to the poll panel in March this year also reiterates that organisational elections are to be held every five years.
“The party constitution (2010-11) document, which is on the official EC website, under Rule 9 (A) shows that. Even the latest constitution submitted by TMC in March 2026 reiterates that organisational elections are to be held every five years,” a source said.
The assertion assumes significance as the EC is hearing rival claims over control of the TMC.
The dispute goes back to June 22, when West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee convened a meeting of rebel leaders and announced the formation of a new National Working Committee, with Arup Roy being elected its chairperson.
Ritabrata had claimed that the party was facing a “constitutional crisis”, arguing that Article 20 of the TMC constitution required the National Working Committee to be constituted every three years. He said the previous committee, formed in February 2022, had completed its tenure in February 2025 and had not been renewed.
The Mamata camp, however, has maintained that the rival faction was relying on an outdated provision and overlooking subsequent amendments to the party constitution.
MP Kalyan Banerjee of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had told reporters after submitting the party’s response to the EC in July that the tenure of organisational committees had been extended from three years to four years in 2000 and subsequently to five years in 2006, with the amendments communicated to the Election Commission.
TMC sources said the five-year organisational cycle had been followed consistently for nearly two decades and pointed to the 2022 organisational election, which followed the previous five-year cycle.
“The ‘traitors’ have a zero case,” the sources said, referring to the rival faction’s claim over the party organisation.
The party also contends that the June 22 meeting called by the Ritabrata faction could not constitute a valid organisational exercise under the TMC constitution as the prescribed multi-tier process for constituting the party’s organisational committees was not followed.
It had said the rebel faction had bypassed the organisational process beginning at the block level and moving through district and state committees before constitution of the All India Trinamool Congress committee. Mandatory notices had also not been issued to party members and ex-officio members, it said.
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction, meanwhile, has maintained that its June 22 meeting was held in accordance with the party Constitution. Ritabrata had said after the meeting that the faction would constitute district and state committees and asserted that the poll panel would decide which side was legitimate.
The TMC has also questioned the consistency of the rebel faction’s claim, pointing out that several of its leaders contested the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections on the party symbol after obtaining candidature papers authorised by Mamata Banerjee. PTI AO PRK
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