In a telling sign of growing discontent within the Trinamool Congress ranks, 60 of the party's 80 Bengal MLAs skipped a meeting at former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's house on Saturday, resulting in its cancellation, sources said. The party later gave a feeble explanation for the fiasco, saying the leaders were occupied following attacks on TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee.
The Trinamool Congress sources said the meeting, called by legislative party leader Shovandeb Chattopadhyay at Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat house in Kolkata, was called off because of low attendance. Only 20 lawmakers turned up. Those absent were contacted but were incommunicado, the sources added.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed the MLAs who didn't show up were busy in the wake of the attacks on Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee -- two of the party's towering leaders.
"The Trinamool Congress legislature party meeting was scheduled. Yesterday, our All India General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee was attacked. After that, a lot of MLAs and leaders held a protest rally in many areas. Our senior MP Kalyan Banerjee was also attacked today... The police are detaining people from the protests... We are postponing the meeting for now...The All India Trinamool Congress is giving a call to its workers that a protest will be held in all the wards and blocks against the attack on Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee and other party workers on 1 June. On 2 June, Mamata Banerjee will hold a protest meeting on Rani Rashmoni Road," he said.
The political signalling of the MLAs by not showing up at the house, which was once the unofficial seat of power in Bengal, is anything but subtle. What could bring momentary relief to the party leadership, however, is the fact that Trinamool giants like Firhad Hakim, Nayana Bandopadhyay, Madan Mitra, Ashima Patra, Kunal Ghosh, were present, indicating they are siding with Mamata Banerjee during potentially the party's worst crisis.
The fresh setback for the Trinamool Congress came hours after Kalyan Banerjee was hit on his head in Hooghly's Chanditala, a day after the party's second-in-command, Abhishek Banerjee, was thrashed by a mob. The two attacks are being seen as indications of a loosening of the party's iron grip on the politics of West Bengal, where it ruled for three successive terms after wresting power from the well-entrenched Left in 2011.
