Something or the other is happening every day in Trinamool Congress. The war of control has also started in TMC which seems divided into many factions from Kolkata to Delhi. On one hand, 20 Lok Sabha MPs have announced merger with Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). On the other hand, the breakaway legislative party led by Ritabrata Banerjee has now staked claim on the party. This party has named Arup Roy as the new president of TMC. The faction led by Mamata Banerjee has also announced a new working committee and said that Mamata Banerjee has been re-elected as the president. Now both the factions are claiming that they formed the working committee first. Interestingly, the date of June 20 is written on the list released by TMC. At the same time, the group led by Ritabrata Banerjee announced the formation of a new working committee on June 22.
This shows that Mamata Banerjee had realized this and had already formed a new working committee. This information was also sent to the Election Commission by Mamata Banerjee. However, the other group can now fight a legal battle regarding this. While announcing the new working committee on Monday, Ritabrata Banerjee had said that if Mamata Banerjee wants, she can accept the post of Chief Advisor. Let us tell you that the faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee has also been recognized by the Speaker and he has been appointed Leader of Opposition. However, this matter is in the court and it is yet to be heard.
Mamta has already made her move
Now regarding the capture of the party, a senior leader of Mamata camp said, ‘When the rebel group was preparing to form its National Working Committee, Mamata Banerjee as the party president had finalized the organizational structure and sent its list to the Election Commission.’ According to leaders loyal to Mamata Banerjee, the party’s leadership structure and 24-member National Working Committee were finalized on Saturday and its list was submitted to the Election Commission on Monday afternoon. The step was taken before the dissident group led by opposition leader Ritabrata Banerjee held a special session in Kolkata.
Also read: Mamata Banerjee is no longer TMC President? Arup Roy became party president
In the list sent to the Election Commission, Mamata Banerjee has been named as party president, Subrata Bakshi as vice-president, Abhishek Banerjee as national general secretary, Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen as joint secretaries and Shubhashish Chakraborty as treasurer. This disclosure has come at a time when the rebel group had announced the removal of Mamata Banerjee from the post of party president, the election of senior MLA Arup Roy as the new president and the formation of a 30-member National Working Committee. This has further deepened the organizational divide within the party. Sources in the Mamata camp said that the structure of the new committee sent to the Election Commission is different from the earlier organizational arrangement and many leaders associated with the dissident group have not been included in it. He said that the name of Arup Biswas, who was a member of the National Working Committee formed this month, has also been removed from the revised panel.
TMC issued notice
In another move, the party’s disciplinary committee has issued show cause notices to several senior leaders including Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Rathin Ghosh, Biplab Mitra, Snehashish Chakraborty and Sabina Yasmin for alleged anti-party activities. Senior TMC leader and MLA Kunal Ghosh said, ‘This is a ridiculous drama. The person who has been expelled from Trinamool is organizing a special session. The matter is in the court and we are confident of getting justice. We do not give any importance to such ridiculous behavior. TMC means Mamata Banerjee, everything else is a farce.
Also read: Rebel MLAs increase TMC’s tension, party’s bank accounts worth Rs 440 crore frozen
Now the main question is which organizational structure of the party will be considered legitimate. According to a political analyst from Kolkata, this dispute may arise before the Election Commission and may eventually reach the court. The conflicting claims of both the factions have given a new dimension to the ongoing crisis within TMC. Now both sides are laying claim to the party’s organizational and legislative structure, raising the possibility of a protracted legal and political battle over control of the party founded by Mamata Banerjee in 1998.
Will there be a fight like Shiv Sena and NCP?
Two similar examples have come to light before this. In both of these, the rebel group had taken control of the party. Eknath Shinde had rebelled against Shiv Sena and not only became the president of the party but also the name and mission of the original party remained with him. Uddhav Thackeray had to be satisfied with a new name and a new symbol. Similarly, it happened in Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also and Ajit Pawar had snatched this party from the same Sharad Pawar who had founded it.
Also read: From court to treasury, Mamata Banerjee got 4 big shocks in one day
Now there is talk that there are preparations to do something similar with TMC also. However, this time Mamata Banerjee took some steps in time. For example, Ritabrata Banerjee was expelled from the party even before he was elected Leader of Opposition. Mamata Banerjee had dissolved all the frontal organizations of the party and has now formed a new working committee in time. Apart from this, three factions are visible in TMC instead of two and Mamata Banerjee can also benefit from this and she can be successful in maintaining control over her party.
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