TMC’s Aroop seeks freeze on party bank accounts amid leadership battle; LoP supports move

Kolkata, Jun 18 (PTI) The internecine war within the TMC took a new turn on Thursday with “party treasurer” Aroop Biswas writing to a bank seeking restrictions on the operation of the party’s accounts, citing uncertainty over its legitimate leadership amid rebellions 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 a private bank’s Central Plaza branch in Kolkata, made rounds on social media, though PTI could not independently verify its authenticity.

The bank did not respond to queries, while calls and text messages to Biswas, a former minister and once considered a loyalist of Banerjee, remained unanswered.

According to the letter dated June 12, 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 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.

In the communication to the bank, however, Biswas described himself as the treasurer of the party, raising questions about competing claims over organisational authority.

Sources in the rebel camp said the letter reflected growing concerns over who exercises control over the party’s assets and finances amid the ongoing leadership struggle.

According to the communication, rival factions were claiming to be the legitimate representatives and office-bearers of the TMC, creating uncertainty regarding who was authorised to operate accounts maintained in the party’s name.

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.

The account in question is understood to be one of the principal accounts of the TMC. According to the party’s audited submissions before the Election Commission, deposits in the account are estimated to be around Rs 675 crore, making control over the fund a matter of considerable political and organisational significance.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of the biggest crisis in the TMC’s 28-year history following its defeat in the 2026 assembly elections.

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.

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, said 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.

Asked whether separate bank accounts existed for the state and national units, he replied, “There is only one account.” Political observers said the dispute has now moved beyond questions of legislative strength and entered the more sensitive terrain of organisational control, finances and ownership of the party structure itself.

The episode also fuelled speculation about Biswas’s own political positioning. Considered a loyalist of Mamata Banerjee for decades, he was retained as a general secretary during the June 5 organisational reshuffle despite being removed as treasurer.

However, he was keeping a low profile following the recent arrest of his brother Swarup, while police summons in connection with the controversy surrounding Argentine football star Lionel Messi’s visit to Kolkata in December last year had triggered political chatter.

The emergence of the bank letter has now added another layer of intrigue to Bengal’s fast-evolving opposition politics, suggesting that the battle for control of the TMC may no longer be confined to party offices and legislative chambers but could increasingly play out through institutions that hold the party’s financial and organisational levers.