TMC Leader Asks Bank to Freeze Party Accounts Amid Internal Disputes
With Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Aroop Biswas asking a private bank to freeze the party’s accounts amid a “serious dispute” going on within the organisation, the party on Thursday claimed he had been removed as its treasurer on June 5. The party’s latest disclosures to the Election Commission (EC) show it had over Rs.676.11 crore in cash, bank balance, and cheques-in-hand. In a letter to the branch manager of a leading private bank in Kolkata , dated June 12, Biswas requested an immediate suspension of transactions and expressed the apprehension of misuse of the signed cheques kept at the party office. “At present, rival groups are claiming to be the legitimate representatives and office bearers of the TMC, resulting in uncertainty regarding the authority of persons who may seek to operate the bank accounts maintained in the name of the party,” Biswas wrote, identifying himself as the TMC’s treasurer. “It is further a matter of public knowledge that a substantial number of elected representatives… have either left the party or have openly revolted against the existing leadership. In these circumstances, a serious dispute has arisen regarding the authority, control and management of the affairs and assets of the party,” Biswas wrote. He also asked the bank to maintain a status quo till the dispute was resolved. “In order to safeguard the funds of the organisation and prevent any unauthorised withdrawals, transfers, encumbrances or other transactions, I request your good office to maintain status quo and refrain from permitting any debit transactions or changes in operational mandates in respect of the following account maintained with your branch until the dispute is duly resolved or appropriate directions are issued by the competent authority,” he wrote. A former state sports minister, Biswas is under the scanner for his alleged role in the fiasco at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium last December during Argentine footballer Lionel Messi’s visit. The Bidhannagar Police have registered an FIR against him and others in connection with the incident. In a video statement on Thursday, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “To clear the confusion being spread across certain media outlets, we would like to state clearly that Biswas was the treasurer and was replaced with Subhasis Chakraborty on June 5.” TMC’s assets While the TMC’s current finances are not known, its latest annual audited accounts report to the Election Commission (EC) for the 2024-2025 financial year shows the party had a closing balance of Rs 676.11 crore as of March 31, 2025. The party also declared fixed assets worth Rs 7.15 crore, including buildings worth Rs 3.37 crore and vehicles worth Rs 2.29 crore. The other assets include computers, cameras, mobile phones, sound systems, furniture, coffee machines, and air purifiers. The report, which was submitted in October 2025, shows that the TMC had a total income of Rs 219.35 crore that year, of which Rs 184.08 crore came in the form of donations. The party spent Rs 137.58 crore on election expenditure in 2024-2025, the period in which the Lok Sabha elections were held. The TMC would have received donations and incurred significant expenditures since then, given that the West Bengal Assembly elections were held earlier this year. The party’s disclosures for 2025-2026 are not yet available with the EC. The TMC was the second-highest recipient of electoral bonds from April 2019 till January 2024, with a total of Rs.1,609 crore, as per data released by the EC in March 2024. While the rebel MPs have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressing their decision to support the NDA government, they have yet to stake claim to the control of the party name and symbol. About the registered name and election symbol, the group can move the EC under the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968. But, precedent and former EC officials say, a civil suit will be necessary to enable control of party finances. Till then, the persons authorised to operate the party accounts can continue to do so. A former EC official said there was nothing in the election law about the party’s assets, apart from its symbol, adding that Supreme Court judgments in the past had made it clear that the parties need to move civil courts, not the EC, for control of assets. “The process can take years as the EC’s decision on the symbol dispute can be challenged in the Supreme Court,” the former official said.
-1781833964118_v.webp&w=3840&q=75)
