Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress supremo, has launched a strong counterattack against rebel party members, accusing them of conspiring with the BJP to split the party. She dared them to formally join the BJP and defended her leadership amidst the worst organisational crisis for TMC, while also announcing leadership changes and criticising the rebels' past actions and attempts to seize party assets.
The TMC is facing a crisis following its defeat in the West Bengal assembly polls and a rebellion that has significantly weakened its organisational and legislative strength.
'Those who have drained Mamata Banerjee's blood -- they are the ones calling us traitors.'
There are strong possibilities of some Union ministers being sent to take organisational roles in the BJP and party office-bearers being inducted into the Modi ministry.
'BJP wanted a compromised Opposition and found a match in this faction of the Trinamool.'
The brewing discontentment in the party may adversely impact the TMC's prospects in the next assembly polls due in April-May next year.
Trinamool Congress leadership is yet to take a call on ghar wapsi (return home) by former TMC leaders who had joined the BJP ahead of the recently concluded assembly elections which the Mamata Banerjee-led party swept.
Dissident Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh, whose name has cropped up in the Saradha chit fund scam and who was served a show-cause notice for speaking against party chief Mamata Banerjee, was suspended from the party on Saturday, while two other MPs who had also hit out at the leadeship were spared.
Dissident Trinamool Congress MP Somen Mitra on Friday said he has decided to leave the party and go back to the Congress, while stating he would resign from his Lok Sabha membership first.
Banerjee feels that as long as Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, she should be the undisputed leader of a united front of opposition parties, reports R Rajagopalan.
Barring Maharashtra, the poll percentage in rest of the states was in excess of 60 per cent while in Puducherry it was 80.47 per cent.
