Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy on Tuesday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a possible crack in the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit’s parliamentary unit, and, drawing similarities with the split in Shiv Sena and the NCP, termed it part of the ruling party’s ‘Operation Lotus’ to break parties by “intimidating, threatening and tempting people”.
His reaction came after senior Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar reportedly claimed that nearly 20 Lok Sabha MPs had decided to support the NDA and conveyed their position to the Lok Sabha Speaker, a move that is being seen as a possible split in the party’s parliamentary unit.
Talking to IANS, Saugata Roy said: “14 people had gathered at Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav’s house. I don’t know where the rest six of them came from. They can give a letter to the Speaker; there is no restriction. This is the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ to break parties by intimidating, threatening and tempting people.”
“They had done this earlier by breaking Shiv Sena and they broke Sharad Pawar’s NCP. Now this is happening, it’s nothing new,” he added.
Regarding former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s meeting with some of the rebel MPs, Roy said: “What can she do? She can explain. I think she has spoken to some people about this, but I don’t know the result.”
Moreover, he accused Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari of being “very interested” in breaking the Trinamool. “Earlier, he met Trinamool MPs at Bhupender Yadav’s residence and then at Shatabdi Roy’s place. He wants to break the party; that is what will give him happiness,” he said.
Roy acknowledged that there must have been a sense of disappointment in the Trinamool due to which the MPs took such a step. However, he maintained: “This is morally wrong. You win on the symbol of a particular party, take its support, and later leave the party before the completion of the tenure. This is against morality. Those who want to indulge in this can do so.”
“I don’t have a separate decision. The party on whose symbol I was chosen, I would remain in that party. What anyone says to me will not change my stand,” he asserted.
Responding to the question of whether he has spoken to any of the 20 dissenting MPs, Roy said: “I spoke to 2-4 MPs; however, I am not sure if there were 20 MPs. In the newspaper, I saw that in Bhupender Yadav’s house, 14 people had gathered. I don’t have any information other than that.”
Previously, 58 of 80 Trinamool Congress MLAs reportedly defied the party high command’s decision to appoint veteran leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition and instead elected MLA Ritabrata Banerjee to the post, signalling widening cracks within the organisation.
(IANS)
