TMC parliamentary split ‘just a matter of time’: As Mamata fights back, cracks grow

After 60 of the 80 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs in West Bengal signalled rebellion from the party, discontent is brewing in its parliamentary unit, ahead of Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Delhi for an INDIA bloc meeting on June 8.

The TMC has 28 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha. To avoid the anti-defection law, rebels will need at least 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 9 in the Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha MP and senior TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said Friday that while the party may be “safe” in the Upper House, the same could not be said of the Lok Sabha. “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.”

A senior TMC MP told The Indian Express: “A break in the parliamentary party is now just a matter of time. Already we have heard that around 20 MPs are in contact with the BJP. This number will increase.”

A senior BJP leader said, “One of our senior leaders is in contact with TMC MPs.”

There was a ray of hope for Mamata’s camp Thursday when a meeting of the rebel camp saw only about half the 60 legislators in attendance. Sources claimed that the MLAs who stayed away did not agree with the relegation of Mamata as merely “chief adviser” of the party, as announced by the rebel camp leaders. They reportedly demanded that she stay on as “chairperson”.

However, rebel faction leaders denied reports of any rift, claiming the meeting was intended only for MLAs from Kolkata and neighbouring districts.

In fact, on Friday, even as Mamata and her camp leaders called up legislators to try to hold the party together, none of the 60 rebel MLAs attended a meeting she called at her residence in the evening. Those present included usual suspects Abhishek Banerjee, Firhad Hakim, who resigned as Kolkata Mayor Friday, and Sreerampur MP Kalyan Banerjee. However, according to a TMC statement, it was a national working committee meeting to which not all MPs and MLAs were called.

Among TMC MPs, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has already resigned from all organisational posts. A four-time Lok Sabha member and long-time loyalist of Mamata, the Barasat MP stepped down after expressing disappointment with the leadership and raising concerns over the party’s internal functioning after she was removed as the parliamentary party’s chief whip.

Even Kalyan Banerjee, whose appointment as chief whip led to Ghosh Dastidar’s resignation, has admitted to anxiety over party unity, adding that Mamata had “overlooked many corrupt practices during her tenure”, which had led to increasing unhappiness among leaders.

Sekhar Roy’s remarks Friday came after he also publicly questioned the state of internal democracy within the TMC, alleging institutionalised corruption and criticising the influence of political consultancy firm I-PAC in organisational decision-making.

Actor-turned-politician and MP Deepak Adhikari, popularly known as Dev, has set off speculation about his own loyalties with his expression of confidence in the BJP-led government in Bengal and call for an end to “political hostility” and “misinformation”.

Apart from calling them up personally, Mamata has also instructed the legislators with her to reach out to the rebels, listen to their problems and assure them of redressal, apart from promising that she would talk to them too.

Speaking to the media Thursday, TMC Itahar MLA Musharraf Hossain, among those in the rebel camp, said he and others want to remain under Mamata’s leadership, but don’t want to be led by Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s national general secretary.

“We all signed (the resolution) for the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly (in defiance of the party line). But it is also true that we want Mamata as the chairperson of the party. We don’t want to break the party,” Hossain said.

He added that he and the others had conveyed the same to Mamata’s “representatives” who reached out to them. Pointing out that Mamata has announced dissolution of all party organisations, Hossain said: “It is up to our leader to decide on the issue of Abhishek Banerjee.”

Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh, who remains in the Mamata camp, said, “I have spoken to four such (rebel) MLAs. They said they signed (the resolution on the party’s Assembly leadership) under pressure… But they want to work under Mamata Banerjee.”

However, Ritabrata, the Uluberia Purba MLA, and Entally MLA Sandipan Saha, seen as the main rebel leaders who have been “expelled” by Mamata, said there was no going back. Ritabrata, accepted as the Leader of the Opposition by the Speaker after the rebel MLAs backed him, said: “I can say that our unity is intact and we will only grow in numbers in the Assembly.”

Saha said: “We have already been accepted by the Speaker of the Assembly as the principal Opposition.” Asked about Mamata, he said: “We are the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee is our leader. All we have said is that she plays the role of an adviser… Hossain is trying to mislead a section of the MLAs.”