Does Mamata stare at a meltdown in TMC?
The preemptive move by Mamata is seen as an attempt to avoid a split in the party which was decimated by BJP in recent assembly polls after 15 years of rule
A month after Trinamool Congress' defeat in West Bengal assembly elections, former chief minister Mamata Banerjee appears to stare at a meltdown in her party as she battles growing in-house revolt and possible defection in the outfit's rank and file.
In a bid to preempt a split in TMC, Mamata dissolved all committees, frontal organisations after rebel former Ritabrata Banerjee, with a letter claiming the support of nearly 60 lawmakers, met Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose.
What has set off the buzz about a potential split is growing criticism in public by TMC rank and file of the party's top leadership, particularly Mamata's nephew Abhishek who is considered the second-in-command and closed-door confabulations among the restive legislators.
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The preemptive move by Mamata is seen as an attempt to avoid a split in the party which was decimated by BJP in recent assembly polls after 15 years of rule.
The churnings in TMC intensified yesterday (3 June) as nearly 60 of TMC's 80 MLAs turned up at the assembly for a meeting convened by the rebel faction.
Under the anti-defection law, a breakaway faction requires the support of at least two-thirds of a legislature party to avoid disqualification. With TMC having 80 MLAs in the assembly, the threshold stands at 54.
Ritabrata Banerjee, a former Marxist leader who had joined TMC, has been expelled from Mamata's party.
Adding to the discomfiture of TMC was the presence of several TMC leaders, considered close to Mamata, and at an administrative meeting presided by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's administrative review meeting yesterday.
TMC MLAs Nayana Bandyopadhyay, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, Ashok Deb and Kunal Ghosh, considered loyalists of Mamata, attended the administrative meeting.
At the meeting of rebel MLAs, a new leadership team, naming Ritabrata as the legislature party leader was reportedly proposed.
Yesterday's development had its roots in a meeting of newly elected MLAs at Mamata Banerjee's residence on May 6, where the legislators reportedly authorised the party leadership to decide the names for the leader of the opposition, deputy leader and chief whip.
The TMC subsequently informed the Assembly that Sovandeb Chattopadhyay would be the leader of the opposition, Nayana Bandyopadhyay and Ashima Patra deputy leaders, and Firhad Hakim the chief whip.
The development came hours after the TMC MLAs formally backed expelled legislator Ritabrata Banerjee as the new leader of the legislature party and communicated their decision to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose.
Compounding the woes of Mamata, Abishek Banerjee, facing a slew of cases of alleged corruption, has been summoned by the Indian government's Enforcement Directorate to appear before it on June 15.
Indian media reports also speculate about a rift among the 30 TMC members of parliament amidst BJP's efforts to lure them away to help a majority in Lok Sabha on its own, a feat that eluded the saffron party in the 2024 general elections.
A majority for BJP on its own in Lok Sabha will not only help the party to push through key legislations it plans in the run-up to the next parliamentary poll in 2029 but enable it to get over the dependence of one or two allies for life and- blood support for survival.
