The party won a historic victory in the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election by defeating the 34-year-long Left Front rule, world's longest democratically elected communist government. It has won a three-time majority in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and has been the ruling party in West Bengal since 20 May 2011. AITC is led by Mamata Banerjee as the chairperson of the party.
History
Founding
After being a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) for over 26 years, Mamata Banerjee quit the INC and established the TMC in 1998. The official election symbol of the TMC is Jora Ghas Phul (two flowers with grass). In the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, TMC won seven seats. In the next Lok Sabha election that was held in 1999, Trinamool Congress won eight seats with BJP, thus increasing its tally by one.[14] In 2000, TMC won the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Elections.[15]
In December 2006, the people of Nandigram were given notice by Haldia Development Authority that a major portion of Nandigram would be seized and 70,000 people be evicted from their homes to make way for a chemical plant.[21] People started movement against this land acquisition and the TMC helped lead the movement. The Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee ('Committee against Land Evictions'; BUPC) was formed to protest against the eviction. On 14 March 2007, the police opened fire and killed 14 villagers and many more went missing. Many sources claimed (and which was supported by the Central Bureau of Investigation in its report) that armed Communist Party of India (Marxist) cadres, along with police, fired on protesters in Nandigram[22] Many intellectuals protested in the streets and this incident gave birth to a new movement. Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) leader Nanda Patra led the movement. The events led to a significant backlash against the CPI(M) government, and were a major factor in the TMC's success in the elections that followed.[23]
In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the TMC-led alliance that included the INC and SUCI(C) won 227 seats in the 294-seat legislature, defeating the incumbent Left Front government which had been in power for 34 years.[25][26][27] TMC alone won 184 seats, enabling it to govern without an alliance. Subsequently, it won a by-election in Basirhat and two Congress MLAs switched to the TMC, giving it a total of 187 seats. Banerjee, an MP at the time, had not contested the election and had to transfer to the safe seat of Bhabanipur.[28]
On 18 September 2012, Banerjee announced her decision to withdraw support to the UPA after the TMC's demands to undo government-instituted changes including FDI in retail, increase in the price of diesel and limiting the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders for households, were not met.[29][30]
The party was reelected in the 2016 election to a supermajority government, and Banerjee continued as chief minister.[34]
The party won the most seats in West Bengal in the 2019 Indian general election, but suffered significant losses to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which for the first time established itself as a major force in the state.[35][36] After the election, the party's status came under revision by the Election Commission of India, due to a loss in presence in most states outside West Bengal.[37]
Banerjee's government was reelected again in the 2021 state election by an unexpectedly large margin over the BJP. Prior to the election, several high-profile TMC members such as Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari had defected to the BJP. Despite the large winning margin, Banerjee was defeated by Adhikari in the Nandigram seat,[38] where she had transferred to fight Adhikari head-on.[39]
In 2020, an independent MLA Chakat Aboh joined the TMC.
Assam
In the 2001 Assam Legislative Assembly election, Jamal Uddin Ahmed won Badarpur constituency. He was a Trinamool Congress candidate.[40] Since then, the party has not emphasized on any other organization.[incomprehensible] Later in 2018, the work of the organization started again under the leadership of M. Shanti Kumar Singha. In the 2021 assembly elections, it was decided to field candidates from 14 constituencies on behalf of the party.
All-India president of Congress's women's wing and its national spokesperson and former Silchar MP Sushmita Dev joined the Trinamool Congress in August 2021.[41] She is now an MP of Rajya Sabha.
Later in 2022, former Rajya Sabha MP from Congrees, Mr Ripun Bora joined AITC and was named the President of its Assam Unit. Leading to the joining many prominent local leaders joined the party strengthening its grassroot workers level.
With the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly election approaching, the work of organizing the party started from September 2021. The work began with the participation of seven-time Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro. Since then, the party has increased its membership in Goa. Former footballer Denzil Franco and former tennis player Leander Paes were among those who joined the party. On 13 November 2021, Mahua Moitra was appointed as the in-charge of the party in Goa to prepare it to contest in the Assembly election.[45] MLA Churchill Alemao joined TMC in the same year.[46][47] In the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly Election, it got 5.2% votes. Later its party President and many leaders left the party. Samil Volavaiker was appointed the President in 2023.
Kerala Pradesh Trinamool Congress was launched in 2009. In 2014, its candidates contested five seats under the party symbol in the parliamentary election. Leaders like Mukul Roy, Derek O'Brien, Mahua Moitra and Nadimul Haque visited Kerala and gave directions for further development in the party's activities. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress candidates contested from five parliamentary constituencies. The 2014 Lok Sabha elections made the Trinamool Congress presence known in Kerala, although it failed to garner significant votes. In the 2016 state election, TMC contested in 70 assembly constituencies but due to technical errors, the party symbol was not accepted. District Committees in all 14 districts of Kerala. Constituency Committees in 95 constituencies out of 140 constituencies. Kerala Pradesh Trinamool Congress also has a 59-member state working committee. Kerala Pradesh trinamool Congress State President Dr. Harish Palathingal.The working president is Shamsu Payaningal. The party is active in all political spheres of the state of Kerala. The Trinamool Congress is aligned with the India Front but is not part of the UDF or the LDF in the state...[49][50][51][52]
Manipur
In the 2012 assembly elections of Manipur, the party won eight seats and got 10% of the total votes. It became the only opposition party in the Manipur Legislative Assembly.[53] In the 2017 assembly elections, the party won only one seat (from Thanga) and received 5.4% of the total votes cast in the elections.[54] Its lone member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, Tongbram Robindro Singh, switched to the BJP government in Manipur in 2017. As of 18 June 2020, he has withdrawn support from the BJP, following the disqualification of seven of its members, to support the Indian National Congress.[55]
Meghalaya
TMC candidate Purno Agitok Sangma won the Tura constituency by a huge margin in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.
On 29 November, Charles Pyngrope was appointed as the president of AITC Meghalaya unit.[62]
In 2022, one defected MLA who has earlier switched from INC quit the party and joined BJP.[63]
In the 2023 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election, the Trinamool Congress led by Mukul Sangma contested 56 of the 60 seats and won five seats and received 13.32% of the votes; as such, it became a State Party.
Mizoram
In 2023, an independent MLA Dr. K Beichhua joined the TMC.
Punjab
Shortly before the Assembly elections in 2017, the party started working on the Punjab organization under the leadership of Jagat Singh. After that, during the assembly elections, it was decided that they would field candidates for 20 constituencies on behalf of the party. The party, however, did not gain any seats in Punjab in that election. After that the party's organisational work in Punjab almost completely stopped.[citation needed] From 2019, the party started a new committee under the leadership of Manjit Singh. Since then, the party has had a continuous presence in Punjab.
TMC won one seat in Ambassa Municipal council in the 2021 Tripura civic polls despite widespread violence. TMC emerged as the second largest party in terms of vote-share in the 120 seats it contested out of 334 seats as it garnered 19.9% of the votes in those seats.[66]
A party office of the Trinamool Congress at Jagadishpur Hat, Howrah.
The party name and election symbol represents 'grassroots'– the name contains the Bengali word trinamool, which literally means grassroots, and the symbol is a sapling emerging from the ground.[90] The symbol is known as Jora Ghas Phul (Bengali: grass and flower; two flowers with grass).[91] The usage of "All India" in the party name represents the rejection of "elitist" Indian National Congress from which it broke apart from.[90]
Ma Mati Manush (Bengali: মা মাটি মানুষ) was primarily a slogan, coined by Mamata Banerjee. The term is literally translated as "Mother, Motherland and People". The slogan became very popular in West Bengal at the time of the 2011 assembly election. Mamata Banerjee wrote a Bengali book with the same title.[92] A song was also recorded with the same title.[93][94]
The slogan Joy Bangla is also officially used by Mamata Banerjee and by her party Trinamool Congress as part of attempt to create a territorial and ethnolinguistic identity for Bengalis in India.[95][96] It is used in particular, as a closing remark for political speeches.[97][98][99]
In the 2021 assembly election, the party used a song "Khela Hobe" across the state. The song was penned by Debangshu Bhattacharya, a party youth wing member. The "Khela Hobe" term has been used across India by several opposition parties and to catalyze the movements against the establishment on multiple issues throughout the nation.[100][101]
Leadership
The highest decision-making body of the party is its Core Committee.
The Saradha Group financial scandal and the Rose Valley financial scandal came to light during her tenure and some of her cabinet ministers were accused of money laundering and have been incarcerated.[103] One of her paintings was also sold to Sudipto Sen (central figure in the Saradha scam) for ₹1.8 crore (equivalent to ₹2.4 crore or US$300,000 in 2023), while 20 more of her pictures were seized from other Saradha Group shareholders.[104][105][106][107][108] She has been criticised by opposition parties for not taking adequate steps against her own ministers who tried to cover-up their deeds.[109][110] Sudipto Sen was arrested from Kashmir.[111] The Shyamal Sen Commission, set up by the Chief Minister, was able to return ₹185 crore (equivalent to ₹296 crore or US$37 million in 2023) to the depositors.[112] Leaders from Congress and CPI(M) like Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Sujan Chakraborty, Biman Bose were also accused in this scam.[113] Despite Bankshall Court's order to investigate into this matter, no action has been taken by CBI against any of these leaders (other than TMC leaders) to date.[114]
The Rose Valley financial scandal was a major financial scam and alleged political scandal in India caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Rose Valley Group where multiple MPs from Banerjee's party were accused of money laundering.[115][116][117]
The Narada sting operation was carried out by Mathew Samuel in 2011 for the Indian newsmagazine Tehelka and published on Naradanews.com just before the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections. The sting targeted high-ranking officials and politicians of Banerjee's political party All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).[118][119]
During her tenure she challenged the federal system of India when she ordered the arrest of CBI officials, who arrived in Kolkata to investigate the Saradha Group financial scandal.[120] But CBI's attempted arrest of Kolkata Police Commissioner was also an attack on federalism.[121]
2022 Coal Scam Case
Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Abhishek Banerjee, the Lok Sabha member and national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday after being prevented from boarding a flight to the UAE earlier this week due to a "lookout" notice issued by the central organization. Rujira received a summons to appear before the organization on 8 June when she arrived at the airport. She was questioned by the ED in relation to the coal theft case last year. She had previously been questioned by the CBI in the same matter in 2021.[122][123]
According to officials, as quoted by the news agency PTI, Rujira appeared before the ED in Kolkata on Thursday for questioning about the coal theft case. Rujira was being questioned by a team of five officials, including those from New Delhi. In a money-laundering case related to a West Bengal coal scam, the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday stayed a Delhi High Court decision allowing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee in Delhi, but allowed the investigation agency to question him in Kolkata after providing 24 hours' notice.[124][125]
2022 Cattle Smuggling Case
Anubrata Mondal, a powerful member of the Trinamool Congress who was detained on August 11, has been placed in the custody of the CBI until August 20. On the evening of August 11, Mondal was transferred from Asansol to the CBI office in Kolkata's Nizam Palace, where he is currently being questioned.[126][127]
Mondal is one of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's most dependable aides, and he was in charge of all TMC operations in Birbhum. The ongoing cross-border cattle smuggling case, which allegedly involves a connection between BSF, Customs, and police personnel with racketeers and politicians, has come back into the spotlight as a result of the arrest of the TMC strongman.[128][129]
West Bengal School Service Recruitment Scam is an ongoing education SSC scam in West Bengal, India since 2022.[130] The scam is being currently investigated jointly by Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate.[131] The scam was revealed, following the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, a Trinamool Congress leader, who has served as the Minister of Education in the Mamata Banerjee's cabinet until his arrest on 23 July 2022.[132]
Before Trinamool (AITC) took office in West Bengal in 2011, the regional AITC party leaders grew significantly in strength. The leaders allegedly began requesting a portion of the funds used to construct any new buildings in the region. As time went on, various groups in various locations began to emerge and link with various local AITC leaders. The entire syndicate business is alleged to have prospered when AITC ultimately won the 2011 Legislative Assembly election and began their tenure.[133][134][135]
^"The Bengali card: Is Mamata trying to give TMC a new ideological core?". India Today. 26 November 2020. The TMC has decided to counter the BJP's Hindutva majoritarian politics by invoking Bengali sub-nationalism ahead of the State Assembly polls. With Mamata Banerjee setting the tone herself, TMC leaders have started attacking the BJP as a party of 'outsiders' trying to mount an assault on Bengalis.
^"Trinamool Congress recognised as national party". The Hindu. PTI. 2 September 2016. ISSN0971-751X. Retrieved 6 December 2021. It is a recognised State party in West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh, satisfying one of the conditions of the Election Commission.
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