Will Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress meet the same fate as Shiv Sena and face a split? Rebellion within a party after an election loss is not uncommon, but the speed of the turmoil within the TMC suggests a split may be imminent. At the heart of the buzz is the forged signature row linked to the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. The TMC was quick to expel two MLAs over the issue. But the move appears to have deepened the crisis as the expelled MLAs – Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha – later held a late-night, secret meeting with some legislators.
That the development came a day after 60 of the 80 newly elected TMC MLAs skipped a meeting at Mamata Banerjee’s residence does not augur well for the party. Taken together, the events have brought the TMC to a crossroads as the party faces its greatest internal crisis since its formation in 1998 as a breakaway faction of the Congress.
WHAT IS THE FORGED SIGNATURES ROW?
But how did matters escalate so quickly? Ever since the election rout a month ago, a section of TMC leaders, including MPs and MLAs, have been publicly turning on the leadership. The anger has been specifically directed at Mamata’s nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, the de facto second-in-command. From the party’s election campaign to the choice of candidates, everything had Abhishek’s imprint.
On Monday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, once Mamata’s right-hand man, stirred a hornet’s nest after he said two TMC MLAs lodged a complaint over the forgery of their signatures in a letter endorsing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition. A CID probe was ordered into the alleged scandal.
Shortly after Suvendu’s press conference, the Trinamool expelled the two MLAs – Ritabrata and Sandipan – accusing them of anti-party activities. To understand the controversy, we need to rewind to May 6 – two days after the election results were announced.
That day, Mamata held a meeting with party MLAs at her Kolkata residence. At that meeting, the name of Sobhandeb, her close aide, was proposed for the post of LoP. According to a report in Anandabazar Patrika, everyone raised their hands in support of the proposal.
On May 9, Trinamool submitted a letter to the Assembly Speaker, saying party MLAs backed Sobhandeb as LoP. Since Abhishek is the TMC general secretary, the letter had his signature. However, the Speaker wrote back, seeking the minutes of the May 6 meeting and the signatures of the MLAs.
The TMC MLAs took the oath in the Assembly on May 13 and 14. After swearing in, they signed the Assembly attendance register as per the norm.
The party again convened a meeting on May 19 to get the signatures of the MLAs and submit a formal resolution in the Assembly. However, many MLAs skipped the meeting that day. Later, the TMC submitted a document bearing the signatures of 70 MLAs supporting Sobhandeb as the LoP.
This is where the controversy started.
The Assembly secretary noticed discrepancies in the TMC document. Some signatures were in capital letters. Others only had initials. The signatures were then compared with those in the attendance register that was signed by the TMC MLAs on May 13-14. Around 20 signatures did not match, Anandabazar Patrika reported. The Assembly secretary then lodged an FIR alleging forgery.
The May 27 complaint by Ritabrata and Sandipan regarding forgery of their signatures only added to the TMC’s pangs. The CID, which has taken over the probe, has turned its focus on Abhishek Banerjee and issued a summons.
The internal crisis in the TMC has only given the ruling BJP further ammo to attack the party. At the press conference on Monday, Suvendu alleged that the TMC “cheated its own MLAs”.
“The CID went to speak to 13 of the 14 MLAs whose signatures were in block letters. Three of these MLAs admitted on camera that they had not signed the resolution,” Suvendu said.
TRINAMOOL HEADED TOWARDS A SPLIT?
Hours later, the TMC expelled Ritabrata and Sandipan for “anti-party activities”. While the party did not explicitly reveal the reason, there was speculation that they were plotting to prop up an “anti-Abhishek bloc” within the party, sources told India Today.
Late on Monday night, Ritabrata and Sandipan held a hush-hush meeting with some TMC MLAs at the MLA Hostel in Kolkata. Among them was a woman MLA from West Midnapore.
It is the timing of the development that has further complicated matters for the embattled TMC. Just a day before, around 60 of the 80 TMC MLAs did not turn up at Mamata’s residence for a scheduled meeting. The meeting, which was called in the aftermath of attacks on Abhishek and MP Kalyan Banerjee, was later cancelled.
It only deepened the speculation that Mamata was struggling to keep her flock together.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed the expelled MLAs were trying to break the party and allegedly held a secret meeting with some legislators at a south Kolkata hotel. The charge has been denied by Ritabrata.
What further raised the TMC’s hackles is the sensational claim by suspended TMC leader Riju Dutta that 50 TMC MLAs met at the Gateway Hotel and were preparing to stake claim as the “real Trinamool”.
What should be noted here is the number. To avoid the anti-defection law trap, two-thirds of TMC’s 80 MLAs (around 53 MLAs) need to break away.
It remains to be seen if the alleged rebel group led by Ritabrata manages to get such overwhelming support, as much of the old guard still swears allegiance to Mamata.
– Ends
