Trinamool MP Pitched Mamata Banerjee As Future PM. She May Join Rebels

Politics is unpredictable. Even more uncertain are manoeuvres when the political future appears bleak. Such is the case with one of Trinamool's most vocal MPs, Saayoni Ghosh, who now appears to be a surprise addition to the rebel camp.

Known for her pointed digs at rivals and the nicest remarks for party chief Mamata Banerjee, Ghosh is yet to speak out, but sources suggest she has already chosen her side amid what is playing out to be the Trinamool's biggest crisis since inception.

The Jadavpur MP appears now to be among the 20 MPs who had sought to form a separate bloc in Parliament, defying the party a month after the crushing defeat in assembly elections.

Read: Sushmita Dev Quits Trinamool, Meets Himanta Biswa Sarma For "Guidance"

Led by Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the 20 MPs had on Monday written to the Speaker offering to back the NDA, exposing a mutiny that splits the Trinamool strength in Parliament.

Reports suggest that Ghosh had contacted Dastidar and is now a signatory to documents backing the rebels. According to sources, she is not currently in Kolkata and might be in Delhi, where the rebel MPs have been camping.

Mala Roy, another MP and close confidant of Mamata Banerjee, has also flown in to Delhi and joined the rebel camp.

Ghosh's move to the rebel camp is nothing less than a shock to the Trinamool, given that she had been one of Banerjee's most vocal supporters and had recently been appointed as the party's youth wing chief. Ahead of the recent assembly elections, she had even pitched Banerjee to be a future prime minister.

Speaking to NDTV, she had also said that "if Didi wins, Bengal wins," drawing a parallel between her leader and the state that she once ruled. In another interview, she had even asserted that she would never abandon Mamata Banerjee.

What makes her move a surprise are her constant attacks on the BJP and NDA. Over the years, she had opposed the BJP's politicies, including the Women Reservation Bill. She had also been a vocal critic of the Election Commission and raised vote theft allegations against the BJP.

Read: Will Hobnobbing With Trinamool Rebels Cost BJP? What State Leaders Say

Following her party's defeat in the elections, she had claimed that Mamata Banerjee lost due to "stealing of votes" and that the party hadn't lost the polls. "We have not lost, but Mamata Banerjee has been defeated by stealing and looting of votes, In 2029, the people of Bengal, the people of the entire country, and in 2031, the mothers, land, and people of West Bengal will give a befitting reply," she said.

A fiery speaker who had gone viral during the election campaigning, Ghosh hadn't been averse to controversies. She had faced backlash over a campaign song, whose lyrics went, "Kaaba in my heart, Medina in my eyes", in Bengali.