Kolkata/New Delhi, June 24 -- The Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee and a rebel bloc led by West Bengal leader of the opposition Ritabrata Banerjee filed competing national working committee lists with the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday, claiming legal control of the party, initiating a formal dispute over the party's name, assets, and election symbol. On Monday afternoon, the rebel faction, claiming the support of 65 of the party's 80 legislators, held a session at a hotel in New Town, Kolkata. The legislators voted via voice vote to remove party founder Mamata Banerjee from the post of party chairperson, electing Howrah Central legislator Arup Roy to the position. Roy served as a minister in the Trinamool Congress government from 2011 to 2026. The rebels cited a constitutional crisis under Article 20 of the party constitution, stating that the three-year tenure of the previous national working committee formed in February 2022 had expired. The group's MLAs visited the West Bengal chief electoral officer on Tuesday evening to submit a letter demanding recognition as the official All India Trinamool Congress and rights to the twin-flower election symbol. Ritabrata Banerjee stated outside the office: "I cannot comment on the letter they submitted to the EC but by now people have seen that every time they form a new committee the members resign and leave. I can say for sure that the majority of the TMC MLAs are with us." To counter the move, Mamata Banerjee's camp sent a revised list to the ECI on Monday night, marked "as on June 20, 2026," retaining her as chairperson and Abhishek Banerjee as national general secretary. A Trinamool Congress member of parliament, who asked not to be named, stated that the document names Subrata Bakshi as vice-president, Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen as joint secretaries, and former MP Subhasish Chakraborty as treasurer. Aroop Biswas was dropped from this revised list. The Mamata Banerjee camp described its submission as the "original but minority" list, acknowledging its numerical weakness within the legislative wing. Leaders and legislators began joining the rebels after the party lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the assembly polls. An initial committee formed by Mamata Banerjee earlier this month collapsed after former ministers Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas defected to the rebel faction. The rebel faction's submission to EC names a national working committee expanded from 10 to 30 members, listing Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Rathin Ghosh, and Sabina Yasmin as vice-chairpersons. On Monday, Ritabrata Banerjee also named himself, Biplab Mitra, Javed Khan, and Sandipan Saha as general secretaries, and Akhruzzaman Ansari as treasurer. "Who is Abhishek Banerjee?" Ritabrata said when asked about the Diamond Harbour MP but added that Mamata Banerjee was welcome to be his group's "chief advisor". On June 12, former treasurer Aroop Biswas wrote to HDFC Bank requesting a freeze on primary accounts holding Rs 676 crore, citing uncertainty over authorized signatories among the rival groups. The bank initially did not act on this request because the Mamata Banerjee faction had informed it that Biswas was removed as treasurer and Subhasish Chakraborty was appointed in his place at a meeting held on June 5. However, when police acted on several complaints filed by the rebel faction the bank blocked withdrawals and spending by both factions. While donations can still be received, the funds remain locked pending an ECI verdict. Civil litigation will be required to distribute physical assets after the ECI rules on the name and symbol. Senior ECI officials, who asked not to be named, stated that the commission will adjudicate rival claims under Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, using the two-wing test from Sadiq Ali vs ECI (1971) to examine strength in the organizational and legislative wings. The rebel faction holds 81% of Trinamool Congress legislators and 71% of its Lok Sabha members. This follows a declaration in Delhi by 20 Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha members that they had joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and would support the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), attributing the crisis to Abhishek Banerjee's style of working. Under ECI rules, the winning faction inherits the party name, twin-flower symbol, registered voter base, and official recognition, while the losing faction must register as a new party under a temporary free symbol. The ECI can alternatively freeze the symbol entirely as an interim measure, following precedents set during the Shiv Sena split in October 2022 and the Nationalist Congress Party split in 2023. Rebel legislators including Ritabrata Banerjee, Hakim, Sabina Yasmin, and Saha participated in the assembly budget session debate on the governor's speech on Tuesday. The Mamata Banerjee camp informed assembly speaker Rathindra Nath Bose that Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra should replace Hakim as chief whip. Hakim was nominated as chief whip before joining the rebels. Speaker Bose rejected the appeal, stating the matter was sub-judice. On June 3, the speaker recognised 58 rebel legislators as the principal opposition party in the House. Ritabrata Banerjee and Saha, who were expelled by the party on June 1, were recognised as leader and deputy leader of the opposition respectively. The developments occurred 29 days after the BJP won 207 assembly seats against the Trinamool Congress's 80. The June 1 expulsions occurred minutes after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari stated that a written complaint by the duo triggered a Crime Investigation Department (CID) probe into the forgery of signatures on a May 19 resolution nominating Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as leader of the opposition. Kolkata's Alipore court has stayed the expulsions, while the Calcutta high court on June 18 refused the Trinamool Congress's request for an interim stay on Ritabrata Banerjee's recognition as leader of the opposition. Both cases are pending, with the next high court hearing scheduled for July 28....