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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: When BJP leader J P Nadda had said in 2023 that \u201cregional parties promoting family and corruption are destined to be wiped out\u201d, no one would have thought that his prophecy would turn true so soon.The last three years have seen many regional satraps not just lose power but also lose their clout. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar resigned as chief minister paving way for BJP to take up the job for the first time in the state. RJD\u2019s Tejashwi Yadav, son of Lalu Yadav, was literally decimated in the assembly elections. In Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal\u2019s dream run in power came to an end in February last year after he lost the 2025 assembly elections to the BJP.The 2026 assembly elections added two more names to this list – DMK\u2019s M K Stalin and TMC\u2019s Mamata Banerjee<\/a>, two regional heavyweights who lost power in their strongholds. But while Stalin has just lost power, Mamata stares at the possibility of losing her party also.There is a strange sense of deja vu about the political playbook unfolding in West Bengal where Mamata lost power after 15 years of rule. Her Trinamool Congress<\/a> is imploding and seems to be walking the path of the Shiv Sena<\/a>.In 2022, the Shiv Sena, which was part of an alliance with the Congress and the NCP under Maha Vikas Aghadi, saw a revolt against its leader Uddhav Thackeray, who was then the chief minister of Maharashtra. This revolt was from within the party and was led by Eknath Shinde, who was once a trusted lieutenant of Uddhav. A majority of party MLAs came together and ensured that Uddhav not just lost power but eventually also complete control of his party. It was not a sheer coincidence that Shinde went on to join hands with the BJP and become the chief minister. It\u2019s a different story that after two and a half years, the BJP is back in the saddle and Shinde is struggling to counter the influence of its dominant ally. The revolt started by MLAs of Shiv Sena soon spread to the party\u2019s MPs alsoIronically, months later another Maharashtra party – the NCP – went through a similar cycle of events that saw Sharad Pawar lose control over his party. The beneficiary was his nephew late Ajit Pawar, who then went on to become the deputy chief minister in the Mahayuti government of the NDA.While the BJP needed Shinde\u2019s support to return to power in Maharashtra and also take revenge against Uddhav, who had joined hands with Congress and NCP to keep the saffron party out of power in the state, the NCP split worked to weaken the opposition space in Maharashtra by reducing the clout of Sharad Pawar.Now, cut to 2026.The BJP won West Bengal comprehensively. The Trinamool Congress was literally decimated, reduced to 80 seats from the 212 it had won five years ago. Mamata herself lost to her bete-noire Shuvendu Adhikari – her trusted aide- turned- bitter political rival, in her stronghold.But even before Mamata could gather herself from this shock defeat, her 28-year-old Trinamool Congress was set on the path of implosion. Here also, like in Maharashtra, it was the party MLAs who came together (or perhaps were brought together) to challenge Mamata\u2019s leadership. While on the face of it the rebellion was against Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata\u2019s nephew and the powerful No. 2 in the party, the real target was Mamata herself.As many as 58 MLAs out of 80 came together to challenge Mamata\u2019s leadership and overturn her decisions. They used numbers to get their own nominee appointed as leader of the opposition in the state assembly.The fact that there was pent-up frustration and also anger against Abhishek Banerjee cannot be denied. Mamata\u2019s nephew was a strong power centre in the party and his every word was like a command for its leaders.There are reports now that some Trinamool MPs are also ready to join the rebels and precipitate the crisis. Veteran Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy has hinted that the rebellion that has rocked the party’s legislative wing could eventually find an echo among its MPs as well.“I have never seen around 60 MLAs leave in such a short span of time. What I am saying is that a similar reaction is likely in the Lok Sabha too,” Roy said. The TMC currently has 28 members in Lok Sabha and 13 in Rajya Sabha.This is exactly how the Shiv Sena and the NCP rebellion had played out in Maharashtra 4 years ago. It started in the assembly, spread to Parliament and eventually led to vertical splits in the two parties.So, it will not be a surprise if Mamata loses complete control of the Trinamool Congress in the near future and is forced to start from scratch once again.And while Mamata is fighting an existential crisis, M K Stalin, the other regional satrap who faced shock electoral defeat in the 2026 assembly elections, has been lucky and perhaps also intelligent. Lucky because the BJP does not have much stakes in Tamil Nadu at present like it has in West Bengal. Intelligent because there are reports that the DMK is ready for a positive relationship with the BJP that rules at the Centre. If that actually happens going forward, this will be also perhaps DMK\u2019s way to get even with its former ally the Congress, which dumped the Dravidian party soon after the assembly results were out.One regional leader who would be watching closely all the developments unfold is Samajwadi Party\u2019s Akhilesh Yadav – who faces a tough electoral battle with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh next year.For starters, Akhilesh has already scrapped his party\u2019s contracts with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) – the political consultancy firm that was associated with Mamata\u2019s Trinamool Congress and has been in government\u2019s crosshairs.Akhilesh realizes the importance of making the right moves ahead of the assembly elections next year – lest he finds his name in the list of defeated regional satraps.<\/div>\n