KOLKATA, July 15: Ending days of speculation, senior Trinamool Congress leader and Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra on Wednesday quit all posts in the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the party and joined the rival faction headed by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.
Seated alongside Ritabrata Banerjee in the West Bengal Assembly, Madan Mitra announced his resignation from all posts of the original Trinamool Congress while launching a sharp attack on TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for the downfall of the party.
Despite switching camps, Mitra expressed gratitude towards Mamata Banerjee, saying she had stood by party workers for a long time. He also confirmed that he would attend the rival faction’s Martyrs’ Day programme in Kolkata on July 21.
Earlier in the day, Mitra drove himself to the Assembly before proceeding to the office of Ritabrata Banerjee. Speaking after formally joining the rebel camp, he said his political journey had reached a decisive moment and reiterated that he represented the people of Bengal above all else. He also stated that he had relinquished every organisational responsibility he held within the Mamata Banerjee-led faction.
He recited a two-line poem and said, “I am not just a Trinamool MLA, I am an MLA of Bengal. A member of the Legislative Assembly. I gave up everything for the Trinamool. All the positions I had, I gave up everything.”
Mitra’s move is another setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led faction following the party’s split after its Assembly election defeat. More than 60 MLAs had earlier joined the rival camp, while only a handful remained with Mamata Banerjee.
Mamata backs Abhishek amid rebellion
Throwing her weight firmly behind nephew Abhishek Banerjee at a time when several rebel leaders have blamed his alleged high-handedness for quitting the TMC, party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday apologised to the people “on behalf of the traitors” and asserted that neither she nor her family had ever compromised for political survival.
In one of her strongest public defences of Abhishek Banerjee since the split in the TMC, Mamata Banerjee said he had become an “excuse” for attacks on the party despite repeated summons issued to him and his family members and praised him for continuing the political battle instead of seeking “relief” through compromise.
“Abhishek Banerjee has been turned into an excuse. His faxmily members were summoned. Had he wanted, he could have got relief. But he did not run away from the battlefield. The way he has continued to fight, all his flaws have been forgiven,” the former chief minister said while addressing party workers during a Facebook live.
Several senior leaders who have deserted Mamata’s camp in recent weeks have accused Abhishek Banerjee of running the party in an authoritarian manner and fostering a culture of intimidation. She alleged that she and her family had been subjected to sustained political persecution because they had refused to compromise.
Claiming that the BJP was using investigative agencies and police to engineer defections, Mamata Banerjee alleged that many leaders had crossed over out of fear.
In an apparent reference to the BJP, she said those leaving the TMC were entering the saffron party’s “washing machine”, and the BJP-backed TMC’s rebel camp.
Asserting that defections would not weaken her resolve, Banerjee said she was prepared to rebuild the party from scratch if necessary. (Agencies)
