Facing rebellion, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee knocks on 10 Janpath’s doors, meets Sonia Gandhi

With her party imploding and a threat of split looming large, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday knocked on the doors of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Banerjee arrived at 10 Janpath, the official residence of Gandhi, where the two leaders are expected to discuss the rebellion of TMC MPs.

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The meeting has also led to the speculation of Banerjee merging her faction with the Congress.

Mamata had ditched her alliance with the Congress in Bengal and refused to share seats with the Congress.

She herself was a Congress leader but left the party in 1997 to form the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was officially launched in January 1998.

The meeting comes a day after 20 of the party’s 28 MPs broke ranks to join the BJP-led NDA. The rebel parliamentarians, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, informing him that they will support the NDA.

It also comes a day after senior leaders of the INDIA bloc convened in the national capital to discuss a range of political and national issues.

Both Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee were present at the high-profile meeting of the INDIA bloc, which was attended by representatives of 25 political parties. The two leaders were seen sharing the stage and sitting alongside other key opposition figures.

A post on the social media account of the Trinamool Congress party read, “The smiles said what words could not…a bond strengthened through decades of dedicated service to the nation. Our Hon’ble Chairperson with Sonia Gandhi Ji, today in Delhi.”

Mamata Banerjee’s TMC lost the assembly election in West Bengal, ending her tenure as Chief Minister of the State.