Arup Roy, MLA from Howrah Madhya, replaced Mamata Banerjee as the new chairperson of the party.
The 'Ritabrata camp' - already officially recognised as genuine opposition party in the West Bengal assembly - held a meeting at a hotel in New Town.
The conclave attended by 60 MLAs and 70 councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation decided to suspend Abhishek Banerjee, the onetime powerful 'bhai po' of Mamata.
Arup Roy
The rebel camp claimed the meeting was convened to address what it termed a "constitutional crisis" within the organisation.
Addressing the session, Ritabrata Banerjee (recognised LoP in state assembly) argued that the party's constitution mandated the formation of a national working committee every three years and that the last such panel had been constituted in February 2022.
"The organisational structure was not renewed after the expiry of its tenure. Therefore, it became necessary to initiate the process of reconstituting the party's national leadership," Ritabrata Banerjee has been quoted saying.
Ritabrata Banerjee, a former CPI-M leader, represents Uluberia Purba in the present House. He recently led a mega split in the TMC legislative wing and has able to muster the support of as many as 60 legislators.
The move comes days after the Trinamool (those under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership) expelled Ritabrata Banerjee for alleged anti-party activities. In a reversal on Monday, June 22, the “real Trinamool” formed a new party committee and turned the tables by taking disciplinary action against Abhishek Banerjee.
With the latest development, the Trinamool Congress now stands divided into three camps —
the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool,
Ritabrata Banerjee’s “real TMC”, which is now opposition party in the Bengal Assembly,
and about two dozen Lok Sabha MPs of the party, who have merged with a little known political outfit called the National Citizens Party and lend support to ruling NDA in Parliament.
The latest suspension has only added to the confusion over who represents the party's true leadership and ideological core.
The rebel MPs have indicated that they will go to the Supreme Court to claim the party logo while confusion still remains on who gets the Rs 1,100 crore war chest.
Senior Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, said:
"I don't think anyone has any very serious doubt that either some inducements, some incentives or some threats have been involved. And that can only come from the ruling party because they have the power".
“Also, as you know, the biggest group that split away, namely the 20 MPs of the Trinamool Congress, have openly said they will now align with the NDA.
These are the same party MPs who have been attacking the NDA day in and day out for the last 12 years. So, suddenly, to find all this virtue suggests that our country's politics has become a politics without principles. And that is rather sad...,” he told IANS news agency.
ends
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