Why did the TMC leadership decide to dissolve all the party committees? What demand did Ritabrata Banerjee place before the Assembly Speaker? Which name did the Mamata Banerjee camp propose to make the leader of the opposition? What kind of discussions have intensified in West Bengal politics after the claims of the rebel group?
Kolkata: Amidst the turmoil in Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, the party leadership has played a big bet. To save the party from disintegration, all the committees of the state have been dissolved. A statement issued by the party said that the committees of all wings and organizations have also been dissolved. The party will be reorganized after taking stock of the entire situation.
The decision came when rebel MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, claiming the support of 59 MLAs, met the Assembly Speaker and demanded to make himself the leader of the opposition. In response to this, the Mamata Banerjee camp also made public its letter to the Speaker, in which there was a demand to make Shobhan Deb Chattopadhyay the leader of the opposition. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also become active. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and the Speaker have been called to Delhi and discussions have been held.
Will TMC break? ‘Do or die’ fight for Mamata
Mamata Banerjee, who is called the ‘Lioness of Bengal’ in political circles, is really fighting one of the toughest battles of her political life. The party formed by Mamata 28 years ago is on the verge of collapse today. The party was already weak after the big defeat in the assembly elections, and now the two MLAs expelled from the party have become a big challenge for it.
When rebel MLA Ritabrata Banerjee claimed the support of 59 out of 80 MLAs, there was a stir in the Mamata camp. Ritabrata has met the Speaker and demanded to make himself the leader of the opposition and recognize his faction as the real TMC. Sandipan Saha, another MLA expelled from the party, is also with Ritabrata. Ritabrata has clearly said that he is the real TMC and he does not accept the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
On the other hand, the Mamata camp had written a letter to the Speaker demanding to make Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay the leader of the opposition. After Ritabrata’s claim, TMC made this letter public. Recently, only 8 out of 80 MLAs and only 6 out of 42 MPs attended a protest meeting called by Mamata Banerjee. This made it clear that Mamata’s camp was weakening, after which the rebel group intensified its efforts.
The support of 53 MLAs is enough to break the party. The rebels’ first step may be to stake claim to the party’s election symbol and sit as a separate block in the Assembly. The BJP in power can also fuel these efforts. In this connection, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Speaker Ratindra Bose have gone to Delhi and met Amit Shah. It is clear that BJP wants to completely destroy Mamata Banerjee’s political ground by supporting Ritabrata’s rebellious attitude.