The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) camp on Tuesday hit back at the party’s rebellious MPs in the Lok Sabha, alleging that they lack “political morals and ethics” and termed them opportunists for trying to engineer a split.
Meanwhile, suspense over the rebels’ strength continues as there is no clarity on which TMC MPs have joined which group and officials in the Lok Sabha are also unsure about the status of the letter the rebels claimed to have submitted.
On Monday, TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar announced that they had submitted a letter from 20 MPs to Speaker Om Birla to arrange a separate session in the assembly.
In a press conference, TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad challenged the rebel MPs to publish a so-called letter of support.
“They lack political morals. If they were so upset, they should have resigned and contested fresh elections. Why did they never raise these issues in the last 15 years, but now, after the party has lost, they have decided to form a bloc,” Kalyan Banerjee said. Banerjee also said that the law only allows merger with other parties but rebel MPs cannot form a ginger group.
Ghosh Dastidar, the face of the rebels, rejected accusations of opportunism and said: “I have been with Mamata since 1984. I have lost many elections but I never left the party when the TMC was not in power.”
Banerjee also said that the BJP will not accept any rebel MPs.
When Banerjee questioned the authenticity of the letter, he said such an important document was not put in the public domain.
“If you are so honest, why don’t you announce it publicly? Why don’t you have the courage to give the message to the press?” he asked, claiming that the entire process lacked transparency.
Banerjee also accused the rebel leaders of effectively allying with the BJP.
The two leaders pointed out that the rebel MPs met Union Minister Bhupinder Yadav in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, proving that they are with the BJP. Banerjee also challenged the two Muslim MPs who changed their stance, to openly declare that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is their leader.
He said: “I will call on every representative to go to the constituency and sit with those working in the Transitional Military Council and confront them.”
Alleging widespread political repression in West Bengal, Banerjee claimed that opposition workers and leaders were facing harassment by the administration.
