Sandipan Saha, one of two MLAs expelled from the Trinamool Congress on Monday, turned on the party leadership within hours of the action, alleging that the TMC “treats any talk of morality as a crime”. The party was accused of “rigging” the nomination of the opposition leader in the council. This is just the latest fracture in a party reeling from defeat at the hands of the BJP.
“In this party, anyone who talks about morality will be considered to be engaging in anti-party activity, simply because the party itself does not engage in any moral behaviour,” Saha told news agency ANI.
“If we were suspended today [note: party says expelled] “In order to maintain ethics, we are actually very happy.”
When asked if he would join another party, he said: “No, there is no such thing. Why would I think about that?”
Read also | TMC rigging case filed by 2 MLAs, says Suvendu Adhikari; Mamata kicks them out
“Forged” signatures are at the heart of the class
At the heart of Saha’s complaint is the issue of signature forgery. He says he and others only signed an attendance sheet, not a resolution, and did not realize it would be treated as an endorsement. The dispute centers around a letter nominating TMC leader Subhandeep Chattopadhyay as leader of the opposition in the West Bengal parliament, a position the TMC now holds after losing power in the state.
The state CID is investigating the alleged forgery of MLAs’ signatures on that letter and has served notices to several party leaders.
Saha and fellow MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, from Entally and Uluberia Purba seats, have been expelled from the primary membership of the Trinamool Congress (TC) with “immediate effect”, according to a letter signed by party vice-president Chandrima Bhattacharya.
The party said the two “repeatedly failed to attend meetings held by the party’s authorized leadership” and “engaged in anti-party activities.”
The expulsions came after a press conference by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who told reporters that Saha and Banerjee had complained that their signatures had been forged.
“Trinamool’s corruption targeted not only the people of Bengal but also its MLAs. Trinamool stole the signatures of its MLAs,” Adhikari said, mentioning the names of the two. “We had no role in this,” Adhikari added.
Saha reserved his exact words for the party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, who signed the list of MLAs. “Providing signatures of those who were not there was a huge mistake,” he said, saying that Abhishek bears responsibility for the mistakes.
On Saturday, the CID had served Abhishek a notice to appear in the investigation, but he did not appear.
A two-front battle for Mamata
The expulsion of MLAs has reached the lowest level in the modern history of the TMC. The party was defeated in the assembly elections, with the results announced on May 4, ending its long control of the state.
Since then, it has been fighting on two fronts. Within the party, the opposition is open. On Sunday, only 19 of the 80 TMC members attended a legislative party meeting at Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat, leading to its cancellation. In the weeks following the defeat, nearly 100 city councilors resigned across the state, and several senior leaders aired their grievances publicly. This was followed by the expulsion of Saha and Banerjee.
From the outside, pressure is also mounting. Abhishek Banerjee was physically assaulted on May 30 in Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas while visiting the family of a party worker who was killed in post-election violence; He was taken to hospital and said, “They want to kill me,” blaming the BJP.
The next day, MP Kalyan Banerjee was allegedly attacked in Hooghly.
The new state government has also moved against Abhishek on other fronts, with demolition notices issued to properties linked to him, and the TMC says the civic bodies it controls are now being targeted for scrutiny.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that several MLAs were absent as they were protesting against the attacks on Abhishek and Kalyan Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee described the crisis as a conspiracy orchestrated by the BJP: “Four elected MLAs complained to me about how they were threatened by policemen over phone before they came for the meeting.” Earlier, she addressed the party’s candidates on exits, telling those who wanted to leave that they were free to “go” and that she would rebuild the party.
Once Saha and Banerjee were expelled, they became unattached members and were no longer bound by the party whip.
