Kolkata: Trinamool Congress legislator Kunal Ghosh sparked fresh political speculation in West Bengal on Saturday after attending Independence Day celebrations hosted by a rebel faction of the party led by expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee in Kolkata.
Though Ghosh clarified that his visit was purely incidental and had no political intent, speculation surrounding it has persisted, particularly amid the ongoing revolt within the TMC following the party’s debacle in the April-May Assembly elections this year.
Ghosh, who belongs to the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool faction, first hoisted the national flag at the party’s headquarters in Kolkata’s Topsia as instructed by the party supremo.
He subsequently reached the office of the majority faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee along the Metropolitan Bypass.
At the rebel office, Ghosh, a journalist-turned politician, saluted the national flag that had already been hoisted and then paid floral tributes to freedom fighters.
His sudden appearance, without any prior intimation, surprised the members of the “rebel but majority” faction attending the I-Day programme.
Ghosh dismissed speculation over his presence at the event in the rival camp and said his participation was incidental. “I was returning via the road adjacent to the Metropolitan Building,” Ghosh said while clarifying his presence at the second venue.
“I saw flags being hoisted in the name of my party, and many known people were present. I got out of the car and joined the event. It is a Trinamool Congress office within my Beleghata assembly constituency, so there is nothing to speculate about,” he said.
Former West Bengal minister of state for finance (independent charge) Chandrima Bhattacharya, now a prominent face in the rebel faction, welcomed Ghosh’s decision to attend the Independence Day celebration there.
“We believe in democracy. Even if a passerby came and wanted to join us, we would have welcomed him or her. Kunal was passing by. He came and paid floral tributes. This is nothing unusual,” Bhattacharya said.
Ghosh’s appearance at both events, however, has added to speculation over the political equations within the crisis-hit TMC, with the rival factions continuing to stake competing claims over the party organisation.
(IANS)
