Crisis in TMC: Two More RS Members Quit, Close Aide Serves Ultimatum, Shatrughan Sinha Stays with ‘Didi’
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 11: Pushing the party deeper into crisis, two more Rajya Sabha members of the Trinamool Congress resigned from both the party and the Upper House on Thursday and a close aide of the party chief Mamata Banerjee served an ultimatum even as the party’s Lok Sabha member Shatrughan Sinha promised “not to leave didi” in the lurch.
In a surprise development, Ms Banerjee’s close aide Kalyan Banerjee, who stood by her thick and thin at all the difficult times and was also her chief legal advisor, on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the former West Bengal chief minister and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s general secretary, and served an ultimatum that Ms Banerjee would have to choose between her nephew and him and other party leaders.
His main grievance was that the TMC national general secretary dropped him as legal counsel at the last moment in an ongoing signature forgery case, a move he described as deeply insulting.
Earlier in the day, the TMC members Koel Mallick and Prakash Chik Baraik resigned from the Upper House and the party in view of the mandate given to the BJP by the people of West Bengal in the state Assembly elections. With their resignations, the TMC strength in the Rajya Sabha came down to nine from 13. Two other Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha members Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Sushmita Dev had resigned from the Upper House and the party earlier in the week.
Koel Mallick’s decision to quit Rajya Sabha follows an intense wave of structural transitions and high-profile departures within the party leadership after the recent legislative assembly debacle. Her resignation comes after days of speculation in political circles that the celebrated actor may call it quits any day. The news of her resignation came 66 days after taking the oath in Rajya Sabha.
Koel Mallick took an oath as a Rajya Sabha MP in Delhi on April 6, and after taking the oath, she posted a picture with her entire family on social media and wrote, “I have got the opportunity to work for the people of Bengal.”
Mr Baraik met Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan and submitted his resignation. Talking to reporters outside the residence of BJP leader Nishikant Dubey later, Baraik said, “People of West Bengal have given their mandate to the BJP. The TMC did not win. Looking at the mandate given by the people of West Bengal, I am resigning from the party.”
In his resignation letter, the West Bengal MP wrote, “I do hereby resign from the membership of Rajya Sabha, which may please be accepted with immediate effect.” A tribal leader from West Bengal, Baraik was serving as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and the Consultative Committee on Tribal Affairs.
The TMC is facing a crisis following its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls and a rebellion that has significantly weakened its organisational and legislative strength. Last week, more than two-thirds of the party’s MLAs — 58 out of 80 — broke away from the official TMC legislature party and secured recognition as the principal opposition bloc in the West Bengal Assembly under expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee. The rebel camp has since claimed that its strength has risen further up to 64.
Kalyan Banerjee, who has remained loyal to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee even as several party leaders and lawmakers have distanced themselves from her camp in recent days, escalated the internal rift by issuing an ultimatum to the West Bengal chief minister. “Choose Abhishek or us,” he said, signalling growing tensions within the party leadership.
The dispute was triggered after Kalyan Banerjee was replaced as counsel representing Abhishek Banerjee in proceedings before the Calcutta High Court in the alleged signature forgery case. The high court granted Abhishek Banerjee interim protection from arrest in the case and directed him to appear before the West Bengal CID by 6 pm the same day. Abhishek is currently in Delhi.
Explaining the reason for his lashing out, Kalyan Banerjee said he spent the entire night preparing the case and presented it before the judge for an urgent hearing, but was informed today that a separate petition had been filed and that another lawyer would be handling the case.
“Their habit of showing disrespect has not changed. He (Abhishek Banerjee) thinks everyone is beneath him, as if everyone is merely an employee from Camac Street. I have been in this profession for 45 years,” Banerjee said. “He has become so arrogant and does not respect anyone. That is why I have stepped aside.
“Everyday he thinks he is the ‘king’… Even in the bad days. When I am standing for the party, standing behind Mamata Banerjee, it is impossible for me to work. It is impossible because of this attitude of Abhishek Banerjee,” he raged. “Mamata di has to decide first,” Banerjee declared, delivering a ‘him or me’ ultimatum, “She has to decide… if she cannot move the party (forward) without Abhishek, then I will not be there.” This morning I also told Didi: choose between me and Abhishek Banerjee,” Kalyan Banerjee told reporters in Kolkata.
The dissenting remarks hold significance amid repeated blows to Mamata Banerjee with MPs and MLAs parting ways with the TMC, citing resentment with the leadership, particularly Abhishek. Kalyan Banerjee’s wasn’t the only takedown of Abhishek Banerjee after the election loss. Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury, the party’s State General Secretary, echoed that criticism, declaring, “The person who destroyed Trinamool is Abhishek… He did whatever he wanted.”
The only silver lining among the otherwise gloomy situation for Mamata Banerjee was the actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha who said on Thursday that he would stand with her party chief and would continue working for those who have elected him. Mr Sinha is a Lok Sabha member from the Asansol constituency,
Mr Sinha said Ms Banerjee was the only person who stood by her after he lost the Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 parliamentary election. The TMC leader said claims have been made that he signed the rebel MPs list, but all of them are false.
“When I was going through a tough time around 2019, Mamata Banerjee was the only leader who supported me,” the actor-turned-politician said. “She made me a candidate from Asansol and helped me get elected (to the Lok Sabha). A lot is being said about me, it is being said that I have joined the rebels but if telling the truth is rebellion, then I am a rebel.”
“Mamata Banerjee helped me when I needed support and I cannot leave her side when she needs support. It is my duty to support Mamata Banerjee and the TMC. Several people have joined the rebel, they are my friends as well… I thank all those, including from the BJP, who invited me to join them, but I will be with Mamata Banerjee,” Sinha added.
The clarification from Sinha, a former union minister, comes after several reports claimed that he was among the 20 Trinamool MPs who had signed a rebel legislators’ letter. Sinha’s clarification is a relief for Banerjee, though, as most of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha members have openly rebelled against her.
