Kolkata: Amid the brewing infighting within the Trinamool Congress following the expulsion of two party legislators, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, a significant social media post by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and member of the West Bengal cabinet, Tapas Roy, on Tuesday hinted at the “inevitable disintegration” of the previous ruling party in the state.
In his social media post released at around 1.20 p.m. on Tuesday, Tapas Roy has also hinted at the possibility of the replication of Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde model in West Bengal.
“Trinamool Congress is in shambles. The situation is similar to Maharashtra, where Trinamool has approached the Assembly Speaker with about 50 Trinamool Congress MLAs to play the game,” read Roy’s post.
Currently, Trinamool Congress’ tally in the Assembly is 80. In case, as hinted by Roy, if 50 out of those 80 legislators break from Trinamool Congress, they will not come under the purview of the anti-defection rules.
At the same time, as hinted by Roy, if these 50 rebel legislators, under the leadership of Ritabrata, present their claims to the Assembly Speaker, Rathindra Bose, as the majority secular group within Trinamool Congress’ legislative team, because of the sheer number game, their claims will have to be accepted.
In that case, the faction in Trinamool Congress’ legislative team, who express faith in the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, will automatically become the minority faction.
Again, in that eventuality, Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, who is also the party’s general secretary will totally lose control over the party, and in future might also have to forgo their rights on the party’s symbol.
The brewing tension among the current Trinamool Congress legislators was evident on May 31 afternoon, when 60 out of 80 legislators did not attend a meeting at Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence in South Kolkata, following which the meeting was called off.
Now, as Mamata Banerjee hits the streets — the first time since her party’s landslide defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections — uncertainties are brewing over the support to her activism from within the party.
(IANS)
