Three weeks since losing power in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) appears to be teetering on the edge of an organisational collapse.
Days after failing to field polling and counting agents during the Falta repoll, the TMC has been hit by a series of resignations, even as leaders continue to question the state of affairs in the party and its trajectory. Over the past few days, party councillors have resigned in municipalities across its former South Bengal strongholds of North and South 24 Parganas districts. One estimate puts the number of councillors who have resigned at over 100 from seven municipalities. This comes months before the urban civic body elections are set to be held in the state.
Among the civic bodies affected is the Diamond Harbour Municipality, which is part of TMC second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee’s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency. Of its 16 board members, 8 have resigned, throwing the status of the civic body into question.
“We have tried in every possible way to develop the municipality area. But our term is only five years. I am the chairman and the board (Board of Councillors) may break up. Everyone is needed for the development of the area,” said Municipality chairperson Pranab Das.
Among the councillors who have resigned are Dibyendu Halder of Ward No 1, Manju Mondal of Ward No 2, Tamal Halder of Ward No 7, Mridul Halder of Ward No 8, Swapan Halder of Ward No 9, Alok Halder of Ward No 11, Amit Saha of Ward No 13, and Debokee Halder of Ward No 16.
The councillors alleged that lawlessness had prevailed in the area in the name of the “Diamond Harbour model”, which Abhishek Banerjee had projected as something that made his constituency stand out. They alleged harassment by the police whenever they complained about corruption. “It was not the chairman; the municipality was run by the police,” said one councillor.
“The police had excessive control over the administration. They carried out those actions in accordance with orders from above. We told our leadership repeatedly, but no action was taken,” alleged Tamal Halder.
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Das said he was unaware of these allegations. Asked if he too was planning to step down or change sides, he said, “Till now, I am with the Trinamool.”
Situation dire
TMC councillors have also stepped down from at least five civic bodies in North 24 Parganas. Some of these municipalities are:
- North Barrackpore, where 15 out of 20 current councillors, including the chairperson, have resigned (there are a total of 23 wards, but three died)
- Garulia, where 18 of 21 councillors have stepped down
- Halisahar, where 16 out of 23 councillors have resigned
- Kanchrapara, where 14 out of 24 councillors have stepped aside
- Bhatpara, where 30 out of 35 councillors have resigned
Apart from this, 12 of the 17 TMC councillors in Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district, which is the home turf of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, have also left the Opposition party.
State government officials said that according to the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993, the state government can dissolve a Board of Councillors in certain situations, including when “more than two-thirds of the total number of Councillors holding office for the time being have, for any reason, resigned”. In such a situation, the government may choose to appoint an administrator to run the civic body till the election is held.
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All the civic bodies except Kanchrapara and Diamond Harbour have seen two-thirds of their councillors resign and thus may see an administrator placed in charge. The law also provides for the government to dissolve the board if a civic body is unable to function properly and fails to provide basic services. This could now be applied to Diamond Harbour and Kanchrapara.
“Public opinion has turned against us. Personally, I believe one should not cling to the chair. New people should be given a chance. I believe there will be further improvement,” said North Barrackpore Municipality chairperson Malay Ghosh, who is one of those who resigned.
“In such a situation, we expected the party leadership to give a statement or speak to the councillors. But nothing happened. Mamata Banerjee met some councillors on Monday. At the meeting, the party supremo requested councillors not to resign. However, she also said, if anybody wanted to step down, she would not stop them,” said one TMC leader.
Nandigram woes
Apart from the resignations, one more development illustrates the party’s continuing troubles: the struggle to field a candidate for the Assembly bypoll in Nandigram, which has become necessary after the CM gave it up and retained Bhabanipur in south Kolkata.
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After the TMC’s Nandigram candidate in the Assembly elections, Pabitra Kar, expressed his reluctance to contest one more election, the party reached out to its local leader Sheikh Sufian. Several leaders, including Dola Sen, visited him at his house to ask him to contest, but Sufian has refused and has instead praised Adhikari, saying he had the potential to be a good CM. “I believe he (Adhikari) can do a lot for Nandigram,” said the TMC leader.
The organisational troubles of the party come at a time when senior leaders have started speaking up against the leadership. After Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar stepped down from a party post a couple of days ago and publicly aired her discontent, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy posted on X, “In 44 BC, Roman Emperor Julius Ceaser was stabbed to death in the Senate on the Ides of March. As per Roman calendar, Ides generally meant for 15th of March, May, July and October. But before Ides of May, people of West Bengal put an end to unbearable anarchical situation.”
Dastidar, meanwhile, attended an administrative meeting chaired by Adhikari along with TMC MLAs Bina Mondal (Swarupnagar) and Anisur Rahaman Bidesh (Deganga).
