Senior Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra on Tuesday gave party chief Mamata Banerjee a one-month ultimatum to distance herself from Abhishek Banerjee and reconnect with grassroots workers, while asking the TMC national general secretary to admit his “mistakes”. Speaking at a parallel July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally organised by the Ritabrata Banerjee-led dissident faction, Mitra accused both Mamata and Abhishek of sidelining workers and allowing the organisation to fragment.
The annual July 21 observance, which marks the 1993 police firing that killed 13 Youth Congress activists during a protest led by Mamata Banerjee, saw an unusual display of division this year. Three rallies were held in Kolkata by the official “Kalighat” faction, the Ritabrata Banerjee-led dissident camp which calls itself the “real Trinamool”, and the Congress. Separately, the breakaway faction of the TMC’s majority Lok Sabha MPs, now merged with the NCPI, observed the Shahid Divas programme in Delhi.
Addressing the gathering at Mayo Road, Mitra said, “I am giving Mamata Banerjee one month. Leave Abhishek’s hand and hold the hands of the Trinamool workers. The TMC is not Abhishek’s party; it belongs to the workers. Why should everything revolve around Abhishek?” He added, “Who is responsible for this three-way split in the party? You weren’t made chief minister by Abhishek or film celebrities whom you adore, but by the lakhs of Trinamool workers who toiled for you.” He also said the party would welcome its supremo with open arms if she was willing to give up her support for Abhishek and return to the workers.
Invoking the Mahabharata character Gandhari, Mitra suggested that Mamata Banerjee knew what was happening within the party but had chosen to stay silent. “If she has the courage, Mamata should come to this stage and apologise. We will spread our scarves beneath her feet. She just needs to admit once that she behaved like Gandhari. No one will throw even an egg at you,” he said.
Mitra also attacked Abhishek Banerjee directly. “You spoke of resigning within an hour of the rebels returning to Mamata. I am giving you two hours to walk here and admit that you made mistakes. No one will throw eggs at you. Admit that the party has gone down because of you, and you want to absolve yourself of that sin,” he said. Questioning Abhishek’s use of private aircraft, Mitra alleged that the money spent on chartered flights and helicopters belonged to lakhs of party workers, though he did not offer proof for the claim.
A long-time associate of Mamata Banerjee and one of the party’s founding-era faces, Mitra recently shifted his allegiance to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led dissident faction amid discontent over the party’s organisational functioning, the alleged sidelining of old guard leaders, and the widening rift between grassroots leaders and the Mamata-Abhishek camp. Mitra, who was earlier jailed for his alleged links to the Saradha ponzi scam, has also come under the ED scanner again, along with his wife and two sons, in a money laundering probe linked to the alleged municipal recruitment scam in Bengal.
Recalling the July 21 movement of 1993, Mitra said he had visited Mamata Banerjee’s residence at 8 am on the day of the protest and insisted that the movement had been built by grassroots leaders and workers. “I, Bobby (Firhad Hakim), Deba (Debasish Kumar), Aroop (Biswas) and Chandrimadi (Bhattacharya) – we who belonged to south Kolkata – were all here. This is the same Gandhi statue. On that day, I went to Mamata Banerjee’s house at 8 in the morning, but I will not disclose my purpose of visit since I am bound by honour,” he said.
He also criticised the way the Martyrs’ Day event had changed over the years, saying, “If Mamata were on this stage today, the martyrs’ families would once again be pushed to the back, while celebrities occupied the spotlight”. Mitra’s remarks at the parallel rally underscored the sharp divisions that marked this year’s July 21 observance and his demand that the party leadership return its focus to workers.
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With inputs from agencies
