WEST BENGAL — The Trinamool Congress lost the recent West Bengal legislative election to the Bharatiya Janata Party, securing 27 percent of the seats. Following this outcome, 58 of the 80 party legislators in West Bengal announced the formation of a separate political bloc.

This breakaway faction was recognized as the official legislative party by the West Bengal Assembly speaker. The remaining party members challenged this recognition in court. Additionally, Mamata Banerjee, who founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998, lost her seat in the election.

Further defections occurred among party members of parliament. Twenty of the 29 party Lok Sabha members left the party. These rebel parliamentarians merged their faction with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. Four party Rajya Sabha members also resigned from parliament.

Before finalizing their defection, the rebel party leaders met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Two of the defecting parliamentarians represented Muslim-majority constituencies. State BJP minister Arjun Singh stated, "Disgruntled Trinamool Congress leaders broke away on their own. They met our leader to discuss joining the NDA." Rebel legislator Sandipan Saha cited leadership disagreements as the reason for his departure.

Congress lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi stated that constitutional rules require the party organization to split before lawmakers can legally defect, making the current merger procedurally invalid. Party legislator Madan Mitra alleged that central agencies and police pressured party lawmakers to defect. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh stated, "Decency, decorum, and devotion to Constitutional values and principles remain vulnerable and threatened every day he continues in office." The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance currently holds 313 seats in the Lok Sabha, and amending the Indian constitution requires a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, which equates to 362 seats.