The massive financial apparatus built during Trinamool Congress’s 15-year run in power has become a key battlefield, with the dissident bloc moving to legally freeze a legitimate “white-money” war chest with over ₹1,100 crore.
Now, the party’s wealth is trapped in an internal coup. In Trinamool’s audited accounts submitted to the Election Commission in October 2025, signed by none other than the now “compromised” and removed treasurer Aroop Biswas, the party held ₹1,018.78 crore in declared assets on March 31, 2025.
Mamata Banerjee loyalists state that this figure rose beyond ₹1,100 crore by May 31 this year.
Multiple sources within the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel bloc said that this audited figure represents only a partial view of the “white” liquidity of Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, claiming an extra ₹300-500 crore in legitimate money exists across small accounts and regional trusts not visible in the overall filings submitted to the EC.
“The total goes up to over ₹1,500 crore. We have definite information,” said a rebel bloc source. “A substantial chunk of the ₹1,600-plus crore made from electoral bonds is just hawa (vanished) already... we don’t want the same to happen to the money in banks.”
Public records show that Trinamool ran the second-most successful funding harvest in the country through the now-defunct electoral bond scheme, pulling in ₹1,609.53 crore. Surpassing even the Congress, Trinamool trailed only the BJP.
Rebel sources confirmed they are executing a deliberate strategy to sever Kalighat from money in banks. The offensive began taking physical shape with a directive sent by Biswas to a private bank in south Calcutta, demanding immediate status quo on all debit transactions.
The economic blockade was reinforced last Thursday, when a cohort of 10 Ritabrata-led MLAs filed a formal complaint with the cyber cell of the Bidhannagar police commissionerate.
The complaint aimed to block access to the money by Mamata or Abhishek, or someone they authorise, such as new treasurer Subhasish Chakraborty.
On Friday, police said they froze three of the party’s bank accounts, which held ₹440 crore. The status of the remaining amount was unclear.
“Our case is bullet-proof. We will first have it (cash) frozen and then seize it. But because these things will take time... with lengthy procedure at the Election Commission’s end, perhaps even the Supreme Court, the freezing is crucial to prevent the duo (Mamata and Abhishek) from emptying the accounts,” added the source.
According to the party’s balance sheets, the central war chest is insulated by a dual-layered architecture. As of March 31, 2025, the absolute core of this wealth is parked across ready bank balances and current asset registries totaling ₹681.12 crore. The institutional survival of the machine is heavily anchored by a ₹250.77 crore fixed-deposit engine, yielding a massive ₹33.68 crore in annual interest, buffering Kalighat against external fund chokes.
The remainder of the core corpus comprised ₹79.72 crore distributed among legally enforceable loans, statutory deposits and recoverable operational advances assigned to vendor networks, running alongside a physical brick-and-mortar footprint of ₹7.15 crore in fixed assets.
The gridlock over active bank accounts has created an operational crisis for Mamata. Legal members of her circle indicate that while the rebel faction will approach the EC to stake claim over the official party name and twin-flower symbol, the poll panel may not have jurisdiction over the party’s property.
Rebel bloc insiders concede that while the official party symbol can be frozen or preserved by regulatory edict, the Mamata-led camp’s immediate operational capacity could depend purely on ready cash. “The aim is to financially starve whatever remains of her party,” said a source.
Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh, a Mamata loyalist, furnished documents on Sunday to ask why key rebels — Ritabrata and Entally MLA Sandipan Saha — took ₹25 lakh each from TMC accounts to spend on Assembly polls. “If the money was bad, why did they use it? Why haven’t they returned it? There should be a limit to hypocrisy and betrayal,” Ghosh said.
As legal manoeuvres intensify, the struggle for control of the Trinamool’s symbol has been reduced to a simple, unyielding question of who holds the vault keys.