The crisis deepened further on Saturday with reports that veteran parliamentarian Sudip Bandyopadhyay had also joined the dissident camp. If the rebels’ claims are accurate, Mamata Banerjee’s loyalist camp would be reduced to just eight MPs in the Lok Sabha.
Adding to the political shockwaves, dissident MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has publicly stated that the breakaway group, once recognised, would extend support to the BJP-led NDA in Parliament, a move that would fundamentally alter Bengal’s political landscape.
The latest removals mark a sharp reversal from June 5, when Mamata Banerjee dissolved all organisational committees and frontal organisations before unveiling a revamped party structure packed with trusted loyalists and senior leaders. Ironically, both Ghosh and Roy were reappointed to lead the youth and women’s wings respectively during that overhaul. Banerjee had also reappointed her nephew, Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, as the party’s national general secretary.
“These replacement decisions were already taken at a party meeting held three days ago,” a senior TMC Rajya Sabha MP said on condition of anonymity.
Expressing anger over the rebellion, the leader used a Bengali proverb to describe the dissidents. โMamata didi doodh kola diye shaap pushechhilo (Mamata didi nurtured them with milk and honey, but they turned out to be snakes),โ he said, referring to the rebel MPs.
In another significant organisational change, TMC spokesperson and Beleghata MP Kunal Ghosh has been appointed president of the party’s North Kolkata organisational district, replacing Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
โIn the wake of the recent developments, the party has asked me to shoulder responsibilities for the post,โ Kunal Ghosh told reporters.
Meanwhile, veteran MP Saugata Roy has been appointed chief advisor to the TMC’s Lok Sabha wing, which now comprises the small group of MPs who continue to remain loyal to Mamata Banerjee.
With the party facing its most serious internal revolt since its formation, the latest organisational shake-up underscores Mamata Banerjee’s attempt to regain control of a fractured outfit battling defections, leadership challenges and an existential crisis in the aftermath of its electoral setback.
With PTI inputs
