With several lawmakers leaving the Trinamool Congress and speculation mounting about further defections, the party faces one of its biggest political challenges in recent years.
Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra in an interview with Hizb ut-Tahrir denied claims that the rebel camp had the support of 20 MPs, arguing that if these numbers had been there, “there would have been an exit speech” and a public show of force by now.
Speaking to HT after his party colleague Sushmita Dev resigned, Moitra said the burden of proving the numbers is on those who claim this.
Read also | ‘Sar katega, jhukega nai’: TMC’s Kakoli Ghosh after bidding farewell to Mamata, welcomes NDA with 19 rebels
“They have 16, and they were claiming that they have 20. Now, the responsibility is on them. If they really had 20, I am sure there would have been a letter, there would have been signatures, there would have been a joint press conference (with the BJP). I can tell you categorically that they do not have 20 MPs.”
“Even if they had 20, what would happen to them?”
Moitra said the mere presence of a group of MPs does not automatically create a faction recognized under the anti-defection law. She said that for the law not to be implemented, two-thirds of the political party – not just the legislative party – must walk away and merge with the BJP.
Read also | “I respect Suvendu, the rebels should have resigned like him”: Mahua Moitra
“For the anti-defection (law) not to be implemented, two-thirds of the members of the legislative party, but the political party, must walk away. And not just walk away, they must merge with the BJP. So a) you must have two-thirds, not even 19, two-thirds of the political party, which they don’t have,” he said.
She also added: “(B) Even if they have 20, what benefit will they have from them? That you can sit aside (of the TMC). Apart from sitting aside, there is no room for recognition of any separate faction or bloc in the Lok Sabha or in the Assembly. They are free to call themselves Kakoli Congress or Shatabdi Congress or BJP-B Bengal team and sit aside. So they are welcome to sit aside and vote for BJP. No one can stop that. But this is the end of their career in Lok Sabha.”
Demand of 20 representatives of the Transitional Military Council
Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar – who resigned from all TMC positions late last month – said the rebel group had decided to support the National Democratic Alliance, adding that it had the support of nearly 20 MPs.
The rebels need at least 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha members – two-thirds of the party’s total MPs – from the TMC to escape anti-defection measures.
“Nearly 20 TMC members, including myself, have decided to support the NDA for Bengal’s development. We have decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and formally support the NDA,” the earlier HT report quoted the four-term MP as saying.
“The message has already reached the Speaker of Parliament. We have sought separate seating arrangements as a separate bloc,” she added later in the evening.
On the resignation of Sushmita Dev
When asked about Moitra’s first reaction to Sushmita Dev’s exit, she said that individuals are free to make their political choices while pointing out that TMC had given Dev the Rajya Sabha seat twice.
“People are free. It is a free country. She was in the Congress. She left the Congress and came to us. We gave her a Rajya Sabha (seat), not once, but twice. For whatever reason… she will have to answer for that, why she left. I am not responsible for what she did.”
She also referred to the resignation of Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and said that it remains to be seen whether those leaving the party will eventually join the BJP.
“We have 13 Rajya Sabha MPs, of whom Sukhendu Sekhar Roy resigned. Now Sushmita Dev has resigned. Let us see what happens, whether they return as BJP MPs or the BJP will appoint someone else in their area from Bengal,” he said.
Calls on the party to exit the “purge”
Despite the departures, Moitra insisted that the mood within the party was not despair. Instead, she described the ongoing exits as beneficial.
“In some ways, we are actually happy that Shuddhi Karan, the cleansing, is happening.”
She said Mamata Banerjee is a passionate leader who has remained loyal to the people over the years, in contrast to what she described as the harsh political culture of the BJP.
“Mamata Di, for all her quirks, for all her drive, is a very emotional person with a great deal of affection and long-term loyalty.”
According to Moitra, many leaders who benefited politically under Banerjee should have been sacked earlier.
“So a lot of these completely useless rude people who have been riding Mamata Di’s coattails for the last 15 years… she should have cut them off.”
