Abhishek Banerjee, the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, has come under fire following internal wranglings of the party on Wednesday over the affiliation of Trinamool chief, Madan Mitra, with the party’s rebel wing led by Ms. Ritabrata Banerjee.
In announcing his decision, Mitra left the national working committee of the party, the West Bengal Assembly’s chief whip and his post of general secretary. He mentioned that he was not opting out of the Trinamool party, but rather moving to another wing of the party.
Mitra, who has served as a founder of the TMC since its inception in 1998, has been summoned along with his wife and two sons by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to an alleged recruitment scam by the Kamarhati municipality. Mitra said there was nothing he had done incriminating him with the summons and his joining rebels was purely an accusing allegation and his family would cooperate with the probe.
Mitra’s arrival in the group “strengthened its struggle against the so-called politics of the families within” the party,” said rebel Mitra Ritabrata Banerjee, “as soon as I was deployed here, I was in a position to affect change in the party.
Mitra attacked Abhishek Banerjee for his power grab and apatitude towards the opinions of the top-notch leaders. He blamed party’s dismal situation and the defection of a few MLAs and MPs on Abhishek’s leadership.
Further, Madan Mitra had cautioned the party that it will not be able to pose a challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party in coming elections, unless it corrects its course, within.