- Trinamool Congress faces internal dissent after expulsion of two whistleblower MLAs
- About 60 of 80 Trinamool MLAs missed a meeting at Mamata Banerjee's house
- Some MLAs held separate meetings, raising concerns over party loyalty and unity
The buzz over formation of a new Trinamool Congress without Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee has surfaced in West Bengal politics. The matter surfaced after two Trinamool MLAs, Ritabrata Bandopadhyay and Sandipan Saha, were removed from the party for being the whistleblowers against the party over the signature row.
Many have started asking, will the 'Maharashtra Model' play out in Bengal now? Will the Trinamool undergo a vertical split, as happened with the Shiv Sena in 2022?
That very possibility is gaining momentum following the expulsion of the two MLAs. There's speculation some 50 MLAs may part ways with the Trinamool. Even some MPs are said to be in talks.
The vast majority of MLAs were absent from a scheduled meeting at Mamata Banerjee's house. Some are openly speaking out against the top leadership, while others are being expelled for engaging in anti-party activities.
Mamata Banerjee attributed this situation to a faction within her own party as well as the BJP. She alleged the BJP is attempting to poach Trinamool MLAs and MPs with intimidation and financial inducements.
She alleged the police are being misused and some leaders in her party were acting like traitors.
"Four MLAs came to me with complaints. They were being intimidated by the police. They were told that they would be arrested under the Arms Act if they attended the meeting. What kind of democracy is this? All limits of oppression have been breached in the state," Mamata Banerjee said in a Facebook live video.
At least 60 out of the 80 Trinamool MLAs were absent from the meeting held at Kalighat on Saturday.
Sources told NDTV that during the same time, some of the MLAs met at the house of Rathin Ghosh, who too missed the Mamata Banerjee meeting. "I was unwell, that's why I could not attend," he said.
Some Trinamool MLAs were also said to have met in a hotel in south Kolkata.
"I would like to appeal to those MLAs who are getting phone calls, specifically those who held a meeting today at the Gateway Hotel, please remember none of us were elected as independent candidates. We became MLAs by making a 70-year-old woman run tirelessly across the state and by leveraging her image. Surely, a human being ought to possess at least some semblance of conscience," Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh said, without naming anyone.
"It is possible that an attempt is being made to split the party. However, I do not wish to hold the BJP responsible for this; instead, I hold these individuals accountable. They are opportunists," he said.
