Mamata launches Day-Long Dharna to Protest against Violence as TMC Facing Possible Split
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 2: Amidst a possible scenario of a split in the erstwhile ruling party in West Bengal the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with a section of rebel leaders reportedly planning to create a separate formation, the party chief and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday started her day-long sit-in in central Kolkata to protest against alleged post-poll attacks on party workers and leaders following the BJP’s victory in recent assembly elections and forceful eviction of hawkers from all public places.
She reached the dharna site at Esplanade’s Y-channel after the TMC’s appeal to hold the protest at the adjacent Rani Rashmoni Road was turned down by the Kolkata Police.
She said, “Police threatening TMC workers not to participate in demonstrations, I will keep holding protests. I will not abandon TMC workers in these difficult times. My regret is those who received my support in their lives now aligning with traitor.”
Mamata also alleged that the TMC was being targeted unfairly. “We were not given permission to set up a stage or use microphones,” Banerjee said, while addressing the crowd using a megaphone. The protest was marked by chaos with TMC workers shouting slogans amid the former chief minister’s speech.
Mamata Banerjee was seen accompanied by the party’s old guards Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra, Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Banerjee and Dola Sen, amid the conspicuous absence of most of the fresh faces who won the assembly seats on TMC tickets.
The party supremo, however, asserted that the dharna, to protest Saturday’s attack on her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, alleged post-poll violence and hawker eviction, would continue as per schedule.
Earlier, she had said that the TMC will go ahead with its planned sit-in against the alleged attacks on party leaders and workers, and the Railways’ hawker eviction drive, despite the police denying permission for it.
She had also alleged that while the common people and small traders were living in fear, and hawkers were being evicted without a proper rehabilitation plan, the ruling BJP was using “money and power” to engineer defections in her party.
The former chief minister, however, asserted that the departure of leaders from the party fold for personal interests would help rebuild the organisation, and the TMC would emerge stronger from the crisis.
“Why are people frightened? Why are people anxious? The entire atmosphere has changed. Kolkata and Bengal have been handed over to lumpens,” she alleged.
Mamata Banerjee said that 12 TMC workers had been killed since the Assembly elections and that thousands of party activists had been arrested, while many others had been forced to flee their homes. “Democratic protests were being obstructed,” she said, pointing out that police have denied permission for her party’s dharna in the heart of Kolkata against issues such as hawker evictions and attacks on party workers and alleged irregularities in the NEET examination.
Apparently referring to BJP leader and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who was once a close aide of Banerjee, the TMC supremo said she had fielded him in polls as she knew her father and family for a long time. Banerjee claimed that she had been conveyed a message suggesting that some leaders would return to the party if her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was removed from the organisation’s leadership. “Will continue to fight and defeat BJP,” Ms Banerjee said.
Within the TMC following the election debacle, the party is staring at an internal rift with some newly-elected and now expelled MLAs held a series of secret meetings to engineer a split in the party. Political observers believe that Ms Banerjee could be facing the biggest political challenge of her life in the wake of her facing a Maharashtra-type situation after the deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena to align with the BJP.
While no formal split has been announced, a series of developments in recent days have fuelled speculation about growing dissatisfaction within the party. According to sources, several expelled and disgruntled leaders have held meetings at the MLA Hostel in Kolkata in recent weeks. Discussions reportedly focused on the future of the TMC, organisational reforms and the possibility of creating an alternative political platform.
Sources claim that some dissident leaders are exploring the idea of launching a separate political formation under the banner of “Asli Trinamool” (Real Trinamool).
The developments come amid indications that around 15 to 20 TMC MLAs are in contact with leaders seeking to exert pressure on the party leadership. The latest political turbulence intensified after the TMC expelled two of its legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha on Monday over alleged anti-party activities.
The two MLAs had reportedly raised questions regarding a proposal linked to the Leader of the Opposition and the process through which signatures were collected. According to party sources, both leaders later skipped an important party meeting despite being invited. Their expulsion has further deepened speculation about divisions within the party.
Some reports suggest that Ritabrata Banerjee could attempt to rally support from a section of TMC legislators, although there is currently no public evidence of a large-scale revolt comparable to the Maharashtra episode. Sources claim that Banerjee and Saha had stopped attending party meetings in recent weeks, adding to speculation that they were preparing for a confrontation with the leadership.
The reported meetings and growing discontent have put the spotlight on the TMC’s internal cohesion at a time when the party is seeking to recover from a disappointing election performance.
While the party leadership has moved swiftly against dissenting voices, the coming weeks are likely to reveal whether the unrest remains limited to a handful of leaders or develops into a broader challenge to Mamata Banerjee’s authority.
