Mamata’s Trinamool Congress is witnessing a rebellion which threatens to vertically split her party such that the upcoming West Bengal elections would be a mere formality. After Mamata’s right hand man on the ground, Suvendhu Adhikari officially left the party and resigned as MLA, a spate of resignations has rocked the TMC, as the leaders abandon the sinking ship that the party is, as West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee watches helplessly.
Bengal politics saw a major upheaval as Suvendu Adhikari quit the TMC who is believed to have influence in a whopping 30-35 seats which may well prove to be decisive in the end. Not only has TMC lost a huge leader, Adhikari’s resignation saw a series of TMC leaders tendering their resignation as Mamata helplessly watches on as her party implodes.
After a meeting with Adhikari, TMC Asansol MLA Jitendra Tiwari tendered his resignation as the Chairman, Board of Administrators, Asansol Municipal Corporation. It is pertinent to note that Tiwari earlier this month, slammed the state government for depriving the industrial town of Asansol of central funds for political reasons.
Following the lead of Adhikari and Tiwari, Abhijit Acharya quit as Vice-President of Paschim Bardhaman and Retd. Col Diptangshu Choudhury quit as Chairman of South Bengal State Transport Corporation.
The BJP commenting on the spate of resignations claimed that the TMC leaders are disgruntled due to Mamata’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
“Mamata Ji and his nephew have a greed for power. Her nephew (Abhishek Banerjee) protects all the mafia – coal mafia, gold mafia etc. The old ministers who fought with Mamata are getting insulted. While there is still respect for Mamata ji in Trinamool, due to her defence of her nephew’s wrongdoings, she has fallen prey to their ire. See how all people are running away from Trinamool, as people know BJP’s government is coming,” said BJP Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayavargiya.
More worryingly for the TMC, in the closed door meeting between Adhikari and Tiwari, disgruntled leaders MP Sunil Mandal, and Nityananda Chattopadhyay were also present.
While Adhikari is expected to officially join the BJP when Amit Shah visits West Bengal later this week, it remains to be seen what the future holds for his father Sisir Adhikari and younger brother Dibyendu Adhikari who are TMC MPs from Tamluk and Kanthi Lok Sabha. It certainly won’t be surprising if the entire Adhikari family quit the TMC.
The lower rung leaders in the TMC are also abandoning the party as Trinamool Congress presidents of Gobindapur-Maheshpur, Bamon Gola, Pakua Hat, Joggodol and Chandpur have also tendered their respective resignations citing lack of respect in the party.
However, Adhikari and Tiwari are not the only MLAs to openly rebel. While Adhikari has quit the TMC, Tiwari is yet to do so. To further exacerbate the situation, TMC MLA Silbhadra Datta has resigned from the primary membership of the party.
At this rate, by the time elections come, only Mamata, her nephew Abhishek and Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC will be left in the TMC.
