After Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev left the Trinamool Congress earlier today, West Bengal Opposition Leader Ritabrata Banerjee hinted at more resignations in the party.
Dave was the second senator to resign from the party, after veteran leader Sukhendu Sekhar Rai. Meanwhile, he, who is among the 58 MLAs who rebelled in West Bengal, noted that discontent was brewing within the party.
“People are thinking of resigning because of the situation within the party… In Parliament, especially in the Rajya Sabha, there are certain individuals who are trying to run the organization like a circus,” Ritabrata said, appointing TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. He said there was “more conflict than unity” in the organization under the leadership of Abhishek, who is also Mamata’s nephew.
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Ritabrata and other MLAs who rebelled against the TMC had earlier expressed their differences with Abhishek, the Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour. “…We are not circus animals. As far as I know, after Sushmita Dev’s resignation, many others are also likely to resign,” Ritabrata said.
‘More than two-thirds of the representatives form a separate bloc’
The Bengal Party also claimed that more than two-thirds of the TMC MPs in the Lok Sabha had decided to “form a separate bloc against the authoritarian style in which the party is functioning”. This comes even as rebel TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said that a faction of 20 MPs has formally asked the Lok Sabha Speaker for separate seating arrangements.
“We 20 MPs have asked the Speaker to allocate separate seats. We will work together with the central and state government for the development of West Bengal,” Ghosh told news agency ANI.
He added that there may be disagreements with “decisions made by some members of the legislative party.” “…But anyone who raises his voice against dictatorship and in favor of democracy deserves support…” Ritabrata told PTI.
Meanwhile, reports about the TMC-Congress merger were dismissed earlier in the day, with people familiar with the matter terming them baseless. The sources said that there is no proposal under study to merge the parties, but the sources indicated that the door is still open for an alliance. Speculations started doing the rounds after TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s meeting with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. Ritabrata said the breakaway camp was the “real TMC” and said it had no plans to merge with the Congress.
Abhishek Banerjee also met Congress and Lok Sabha leader Rahul Gandhi. Both Mamata and Abhishek visited Delhi to attend the India Caucus meeting.
