India, June 21 -- Leaders who have been with her since the Trinamool Congress' early years are walking out, defecting, etc.

Barely weeks after the Trinamool Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, the party founded by Mamata Banerjee a quarter-century ago is unravelling at a pace few anticipated. One by one, leaders who stood beside her since the TMC's bloody early years-through Singur, Nandigram and three Assembly victories-are walking out, defecting, or turning the party's own machinery against her. In what Trinamool observers say was unthinkable even days ago, close aides Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Jyotipriya Mullick and Goutam Deb are either quitting outright or aligning with the rebel faction t...