With Bhattacharya’s defection, nearly the entire former Mamata Banerjee cabinet has now crossed over to the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction. Other prominent former ministers who have joined the rebel camp include Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Javed Ahmed Khan, Jyotipriya Mallick, Siuli Saha and Arup Roy.
Among them, Hakim, Khan, Saha and Roy continue to serve as elected MLAs. Roy, a four-time legislator from Howrah (Central), was recently appointed chairman of the rebel faction’s newly constituted National Working Committee (NWC).
However, the political future of a few senior leaders remains uncertain. former education minister Bratya Basu and former women and child development and commerce and industries minister Dr Sashi Panja, both of whom lost the recent assembly elections, have neither reaffirmed their loyalty to Mamata Banerjee nor formally joined the rebel camp.
Former minister Soumen Mahapatra has also maintained complete silence amid the deepening split.
At present, the only prominent former minister and sitting MLA to publicly reaffirm his support for Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee is veteran Trinamool leader Madan Mitra, whom Mamata Banerjee has previously described as the party’s “most colourful personality”.
Following Bhattacharya’s resignation, the post of West Bengal Trinamool Congress president remains vacant, with Mamata Banerjee yet to name a successor.
Bhattacharya’s departure further strengthens the rebel faction’s claim of commanding the majority within the Trinamool Congress, while deepening the political crisis confronting Mamata Banerjee’s diminished camp.
With IANS inputs
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