Dev, Ghatal and the TMC Rebel List: What He Has Actually Said
Dev was named on lists of rebel TMC MPs in June 2026, but he has said he is with Mamata Banerjee. A careful look at what is reported, what he said, and what no source confirms.
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Films in this article
Facts below are taken from published reports available on 20 October 2026. We found no report in which Dev announces leaving the Trinamool Congress, so this article separates what is reported from what is assumed.
What is reported
- June 2026: after the TMC’s election defeat, a group of rebel TMC Lok Sabha MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar was reported to be seeking recognition as a separate bloc and to be backing the BJP-led NDA. The Week reported 19 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs on the list, and named Dev (Ghatal) among them. Other outlets counted 20.
- The Week also named Saayoni Ghosh, June Malia and Rachana Banerjee among celebrity MPs said to have joined the rebels.
- Reports differ on whether each name signed the letter. One account says Dev’s name “reportedly appeared” but does not say he signed it.
What Dev said
In May, after the BJP win, Dev congratulated the new government and urged it to uphold unity and artistic freedom and to end the “cultural ban” in Bengali cinema, ThePrint reported.
In early June he attended an administrative meeting in Purba Medinipur chaired by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. He said that as the Ghatal MP he raised the long pending Ghatal Master Plan, and that the chief minister said publicly it would be completed by this government. He called Suvendu Adhikari one of his favourite people. According to Anandabazar Patrika, as quoted by Filmibeat, he denied joining the rebel faction and said that, while he cannot be certain about his political future, “as long as Mamata Banerjee is alive, I am with her.”
We found no statement from Dev made after the rebel list was published on 10 June.
Did he ever want politics?
In February 2024 Dev resigned from three posts, including vice chairman of the Birbhum Development Corporation, without giving a reason, and was reported to have asked Mamata Banerjee to let him concentrate on his career (ETV Bharat). That is a report, not his own account.
Questions people ask
Has Dev left the TMC?
No published source we found says so. He has said he stands with Mamata Banerjee, while appearing on rebel lists in reports.
Why did Dev meet Suvendu Adhikari?
By his own account, as Ghatal’s MP at an official administrative meeting about the Ghatal Master Plan.
Does this affect his films?
His directorial debut DeSu7 released on 16 October 2026. See our box office page for its collection.
