All India Trinamool Congress

The All India Trinamool Congress (abbreviated AITC or TMC; translation: All India Grassroots Congress) is an Indian national political party mostly active in West Bengal.[7] The party is led by its founder and current chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee. Following the 2019 general election, it is currently the fifth-largest party in the Lok Sabha with 21 seats.[8] Since its inception the party has been at the forefront of the anti-communist movement in West Bengal.[3] Their main political rival in West Bengal is Bharatiya Janata Party.[1]

All India Trinamool Congress
AbbreviationAITC
PresidentSubrata Bakshi
ChairpersonMamata Banerjee
General SecretaryPartha Chatterjee
Parliamentary ChairpersonSudip Bandyopadhyay
Lok Sabha leaderSudip Bandyopadhyay
Rajya Sabha leaderDerek O'Brien
FounderMamata Banerjee
Founded1 January 1998 (1998-01-01)
Split fromIndian National Congress
Headquarters30B Harish Chatterjee Street, Kolkata-700026
NewspaperJago Bangla (Bengali)
Student wingTrinamool Chhatra Parishad
Youth wingTrinamool Youth Congress
Women's wingTrinamool Mahila Congress
Labour wingTrinamool Trade Union Congress
Peasant's wingTrinamool Kisan Congress
IdeologyBengali nationalism[1]
Populism[2]
Anti-communism[3]
Political positionCentre[4] to centre-right[5]
Colours  Green
SloganMa Mati Manush
Joy Bangla[6]
ECI StatusNational party
AllianceNDA (1999–2009)
UPA (2009–2012)
Federal Front (2019)
Seats in Lok Sabha
21 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha
13 / 245
Seats in State Legislative Assemblies
Indian states
209 / 294
(West Bengal Legislative Assembly)
1 / 60
(Manipur Legislative Assembly)
Number of states and union territories in government
1 / 31
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
aitcofficial.org

History

After being a member of the Indian National Congress for over 26 years, Mamata Banerjee formed her own party of Bengal, the "Trinamool Congress", which was registered with the Election Commission of India during mid-December 1999.  The Election Commission allotted to the party an exclusive symbol of Jora Ghas Phul. On 2 September 2016 election commission recognized AITC as a national political party.[9]

Nandigram movement
Main article: Nandigram violence

In December 2006, the people of Nandigram were given notice by Haldia Development Authority that major portion of Nandigram would be seized and 70,000 people be evicted from their homes.[10] People started movement against this land acquisition and Trinamool Congress led the movement. Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) was formed against land grabbing and eviction. On 14 March 2007 the police opened firing and killed 14 villagers. Many more went missing. Many sources claimed which was supported by CBI in its report, that armed CPM cadres, along with police, fired on protesters in Nandigram[11] Many intellectuals protested on the streets and this incident gave birth to a new movement. SUCI (C) leader Nanda Patra led the movement.

Post-Nandigram/Singur elections
Main article: Singur Tata Nano controversy

In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Trinamool Congress won 19 seats in West Bengal.

In the 2010 Kolkata municipal election, the party won 97 out of 141 seats. It also won a majority of other municipalities.

Presence in other states

Trinamool in Tripura

Under the leadership of former leader of opposition and then MLA of Tripura, Sudip Roy Barman, six MLAs defected from INC along with many ex ministers, ex members of legislative assembly, senior state and district leaders along with thousands of party workers and supporters who joined AITC to fight the communists in Tripura. Tripura Pradesh Trinamool Congress is working in Tripura to establish Ma Mati Manush government in Tripura.[12]

Trinamool in Manipur

In the 2012 assembly elections of Manipur, AITC won 8 seats, got 10% of the total votes & became the only opposition party in the Manipur Legislative Assembly. In the 2017 assembly elections the party won only one seat from Bishnupur & polled 5.4% of the total votes cast in the elections. Its lone Member of Legislative Assembly, Tongbram Robindro Singh supported Bharatiya Janata Party in forming government in Manipur in 2017. Later, Robindro Singh withdrew support from the Bharatiya Janata Party following the disqualification of 7 of its members to grant support the Indian National Congress as of 18 June 2020.[13]

Trinamool in Kerala

Since 2012 the state unit is there in Kerala. Party fought in 2014 Indian general election and in 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election. In Assembly Election the candidates were contested without party symbol due to some technical issues.

From 2019 Mr. Shamsu Payanigal (Calicut) is leading the Party as the President in charge and Mr. Suresh Velayudhan (Palakkad) is leading as the State General Secretary. Mr. Siby Thomas (Ernakulam) leading as the state Organizing Secretary. While Derek O'Brien is the Observer of the State.

Electoral performance
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal and Chairperson of All India Trinamool Congress.

In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the Trinamool Congress-led alliance that included the INC and SUCI(C) won 227 seats in the 294-seat legislature. Trinamool Congress 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 TMC, giving it a total of 187 seats.

Now the party has got a National Party Status, expanding its base in Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,[14] Sikkim, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh. In Kerala, the party contested from five seats in 2014 general elections.

On 18 September 2012, TMC Chief, Mamata 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.[15][16]

In the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, TMC won 7 seats.[17] In the next Lok Sabha election that was held in 1999, Trinamool Congress won 8 seats with BJP, thus increasing its tally by one.[18] In 2000, TMC won the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Elections. In the 2001 Vidhan Sabha elections, TMC won 60 seats with Congress(I).[19] In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, TMC won 1 seat with BJP.[20] In the 2006 Vidhan Sabha elections, TMC won 30 seats with BJP.

In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, TMC won a majority of 184 seats (out of 294). Mamata Banerjee became the Chief Minister. In the following 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, TMC retains its majority and won 211 seats (out of 294).[21]

General election results
Lok Sabha Elections
Year Legislature Party leader Seats contested Seats won Change in seats Percentage of votes Vote swing Ref.
1998 12th Lok Sabha Mamata Banerjee 29
7 / 545
 7 2.42% – [22]
1999 13th Lok Sabha Mamata Banerjee 29
8 / 545
 1 2.57% 0.15% [23]
2004 14th Lok Sabha Mamata Banerjee 33
2 / 543
 6 2.07% 0.5% [24]
2009 15th Lok Sabha Mamata Banerjee 26
19 / 543
 17 3.20% 1.15% [25]
2014 16th Lok Sabha Mamata Banerjee 45
34 / 543
 15 3.84% 0.64% [26]
2019 17th Lok Sabha Mamata Banerjee 62
22 / 543
 12 4.11% 0.27% [27]

State Legislative Assembly Elections
Vote share in consecutive West Bengal Assembly elections
2016
 
 44.91%
2011
 
 38.93%
2006
 
 26.64%
2001
 
 30.66%
West Bengal Legislative Assembly Elections[28]
Election Year Party leader Seats contested Seats won Change in seats Percentage of votes Vote swing Popular vote Result
2001 Election Mamata Banerjee 226
60 / 294
 60 30.66% – 11,229,396 Opposition
2006 Election Mamata Banerjee 257
30 / 294
 30 26.64% 4.02% 10,512,153 Opposition
2011 Election Mamata Banerjee 226
184 / 294
 154 38.93% 12.29% 18,547,678 Government
2016 Election Mamata Banerjee 293
211 / 294
 27 44.91% 5.98% 24,564,523 Government
2021 Election Mamata Banerjee TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

Political slogan
Main article: Ma Mati Manush

Ma Mati Manush (Bengali: মা মাটি মানুষ) was primarily a slogan, coined by All India Trinamool Congress chief and current Chief Minister 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. Later, Mamata Banerjee wrote a Bengali book with the same title.[29] A song was also recorded with the same title to glorify the theme. According to a report published in June 2011, it was one of the six most popular political slogans in India at that time.[30]

ECI status

After the 2014 Indian general elections, AITC has a national party status, because AITC has received 6% of the vote from five different states. (West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura, Jharkhand, Assam)[31] In 2016,the party was recognised as state party in four states (West Bengal, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur), satisfying one of the conditions of the Election Commission.[32]

Although after the 2019 Indian general election, the party status is under revision by the Election Commission of India.[33]

Leadership

The highest decision-making body of the party is its Core Committee.

See also

References
  1. —Daniyal, Shoaib (16 June 2019). "In Bengal, speak Bengali: Squeezed by BJP's Hindutva, Mamata Banerjee grasps at Bengali nationalism". Scroll.in.
    —Ghoshal, Avijit (1 September 2019). "Whispers of 'Bengal for Bengalis', but can it impact state polls | Opinion". Hindustan Times.
  2. —"Five reasons why Mamata Banerjee swept the West Bengal elections". Scroll.in. 19 May 2016.
    —Mahaprashasta, Ajoy Ashirwad (19 May 2016). "Populist Governments With Strong Leaders Like Mamata Are Here to Stay". The Wire.
    —Basu, Moni (12 May 2011). "Reflections on West Bengal, where communism is on verge of collapse". CNN.
    —Singh, Neha (2 June 2011). "Tata Motors challenge govt decision to reclaim Singur land". Livemint. Reuters.
    —"'Cultural Misrecognition' and the Sustenance of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal". Economic and Political Weekly. 53 (28): 7–8. 5 June 2015.
  3. "The Anti-Communist of West Bengal". Forbes. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. —Banerjee, Vasabjit; Bhattacharya, Srobana; Jha, Anand (3 July 2017). "Inequality and Elections: The Nationwide Origins and State-Level Dynamics of India's Maoist Insurgency". Asian Affairs: An American Review. 44 (3): 72–97. doi:10.1080/00927678.2017.1357347. ISSN 0092-7678. S2CID 158695181.
    —Ghosh, Gautam (2015). "An 'infiltration' of time? Hindu Chauvinism and Bangladeshi migration in/to Kolkata, India". Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology. 6 (1): 263–288. ISSN 2068-0317.
  5. Ghosh, Pujya (1 June 2020). "From Revolution to Dissent: A Case Study of the Changing Role of Theatre and Activism in Bengal". World Political Theatre and Performance: 39–52. doi:10.1163/9789004430990_005. ISBN 9789004430990.
  6. —Bhattacharya, Snigdhendu (18 September 2020). "Why Mamata Banerjee Is Backtracking From the Bengali Regionalist Stance". The Wire.
    —"Meghalaya Governor slams Trinamool, says chanting 'Joy Bangla' slogan seditious". The Indian Express. 22 June 2019.
  7. "Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Know your party symbols!". Daily News and Analysis. 10 April 2014.
  8. "Membersaspects :of Lok Sabha". loksabha.niccivilisation.in.
  9. "Trinamool Congress gets national party status". Indian Express. 2 September 2016.
  10. "Nandigram says 'No!' to Dow's chemical hub". International Action Center – Boston. December 2007.
  11. "CPM cadres joined cops to fire, now beating up witnesses: CBI". Indian Express. 19 December 2007.
  12. "Mamata wins Bengal civic polls, demands early elections". NDTV. 2 June 2010.
  13. "Mess in Manipur". The Indian Express. 1 June 2020.
  14. "Kerala Pradesh Trinamool Congress". Archived from the original on 22 July 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  15. "Rupee falls after TMC pulls out from government". Moneycontrol.com. 20 September 2012.
  16. "Mamata Banerjee's party ready to meet President tomorrow to officially quit UPA". NDTV. 20 September 2012.
  17. "Statistical Report on General Elections, 1998 to the 12th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  18. "Statistical Report on General Elections, 1999 to the 13th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  19. "Key Highlights of General Election, 2001 to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  20. "Statistical Report on General Elections, 2004 to the 14th Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India.
  21. "West Bengal Election Results 2016: TMC storms back to power in Bengal, Cong-Left alliance loses". The Financial Express (India). 20 May 2016.
  22. "Statistical report on general elections, 1998 to the Twelfth Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  23. "Statistical report on general elections, 1999 to the Thirteenth Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  24. "Statistical report on general elections, 2004 to the Fourteenth Lok Sabha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  25. "LS 2009 : Performance of National Parties" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  26. "LS 2014 : List of successful candidates" (PDF). Election Commission of India. p. 93. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  27. "LS 2019 : List of successful candidates". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  28. "West Bengal Assembly Election Results". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  29. Maa Mati Manush. Menaka Books. ISBN 978-93-5080-024-9.
  30. "Six popular contemporary slogans". DNA India. 28 July 2011.
  31. eci.nic.in/eci_main1/statistical_reportge2014.aspx/
  32. PTI (2 September 2016). "Trinamool Congress recognised as national party". thehindu.com. New Delhi: The Hindu. Retrieved 11 May 2020. It is a recognised State party in West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh, satisfying one of the conditions of the Election Commission.
  33. Sujit Nath (20 July 2019). "Why Did TMC, CPI, NCP Fail to Meet National Party Status When NPP Made It? An Explainer". News18.com. Kolkata: Network 18. Retrieved 11 May 2020. Due to several political developments over the past few years, the EC wants the three political parties to respond on why their ‘national party’ status should not be taken away.
  34. "West Bengal | History, Culture, Map, Capital, & Population". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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