Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee returned to Kolkata from New Delhi on June 10 amid fresh speculation that she and her nephew, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, may be exploring a re-merger of the TMC with the Congress. Abhishek remained in the national capital after holding a separate meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while Mamata had a one-on-one meeting with Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi the previous day, events that fuelled the rumours.
Reporters at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport sought comment from Mamata on the possibility of rejoining the Congress, but she left the scene without responding. The timing of the high-level meetings — Mamata with Sonia Gandhi and Abhishek with Rahul Gandhi — has intensified attention on potential talks between the two parties.
Mamata founded the Trinamool Congress on January 1, 1998, after breaking away from the Congress, accusing its leadership at the time of failing to mobilise an effective movement against the CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal. That history underscores the political weight of any suggestion that the two parties might reunite.
Ritabrata Banerjee, leader of the new majority bloc of the TMC Legislative Party in the West Bengal Assembly and the official Leader of the Opposition, dismissed the re-merger idea outright. “Our bloc is the main Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal Assembly. We started with 58 legislators and today the number is 64. I heard that the majority of the 28 Lok Sabha members of the Trinamool Congress are also in the rebel bloc now. So, since we are the main Trinamool Congress, there is no question of our party remerging with the Congress,” he said.
State Congress leaders in West Bengal also expressed scepticism. West Bengal Congress president Suvankar Sarkar said two conditions would be central to any return: acceptance of Rahul Gandhi as the party’s supreme leader, and assurance that the Congress would not be used as “a shield against legal complications” arising from past corruption allegations. Sources within the Banerjee-led party likewise called the merger reports “baseless,” with a senior TMC leader dismissing the speculation. (Agencies)
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/06/11/will-she-or-wont-she/
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Publish Date: 2026-06-11 03:47:00
