NEW DELHI: The rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by leader of the opposition and Uluberia Purba MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, on Monday named senior party MLA Arup Roy as the chairperson of what it described as the “real” TMC. Trinamool was founded by Mamata Banerjee in January 1998 after she quit the Congress. She has led the party since its inception and served as West Bengal chief minister for 15 years before the TMC was voted out of power in the assembly elections in April.The decision to appoint Roy was taken at a special session held at a five-star hotel in Kolkata’s New Town, attended by rebel legislators, councillors and former elected representatives from several districts.The dissident camp maintained that the meeting had been convened to address what it called a “constitutional crisis” within the organisation.“The organisational structure was not renewed after the expiry of its tenure. Therefore, it became necessary to initiate the process of reconstituting the party’s national leadership,” a leader present at the meeting quoted Ritabrata Banerjee as saying.Roy, the MLA from Howrah Central, was elected chairperson by voice vote.The faction also announced a new national working committee comprising Roy, Ritabrata Banerjee, one-time Mamata Banerjee aide and former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Biplab Mitra, Akhruzzaman Ansari, Sabina Yasmin, Sandipan Saha, Rathin Ghosh, and Javed Khan.Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Rathin Ghosh and Sabina Yasmin were named vice-chairpersons, while Ritabrata Banerjee, Javed Khan and Sandipan Saha were appointed general secretaries.Akhruzzaman Ansari was later named treasurer. The faction also resolved to appoint an auditor to examine the party’s finances.
Sending a message to Mamata?
The backdrop itself underscored the political messaging of the gathering. While the TMC’s party symbol remained prominently displayed, portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and BR Ambedkar adorned the stage. Conspicuously absent were photographs of Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, long seen as her political successor and blamed by many dissidents as the reason for their revolt.After TMC’s defeat, 58 of its 80 MLAs backed Ritabrata Banerjee’s claim to the post of leader of the opposition, rejecting the nominee favoured by the Mamata Banerjee camp. The rebels have since asserted that their strength in the assembly has risen to around 65 legislators.The turmoil has extended beyond the state assembly.In Parliament, the party recently suffered another setback when 20 of its 28 Lok Sabha MPs broke away from the TMC parliamentary party and merged with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), while extending support to the BJP-led NDA.The BJP, which heads the Union government, is now also in power in West Bengal, marking its first-ever government in the state.(With PTI inputs)
