‘Cannot accept Abhishek anymore’: Inside the TMC revolt that may cost Mamata Banerjee her party

“Mamata Banerjee was not ready to accept defeat. When she asked us to stand up, many senior MLAs did not do so, but they also said nothing,” said one MLA. There was also unease over the leadership’s decision not to act against its Falta strongman Jahangir Khan, seen as close to Abhishek, after he withdrew his name from the repoll in his constituency without consulting the party.

“Not only that, the leadership, especially Abhishek Banerjee, was so arrogant. Even after such a humiliating defeat, when asked about what the party was doing about Jahangir Khan, he just said, ‘See the party’s tweet.’ Mamata Banerjee also announced she would not resign as CM. After that, the seeds of the rebellion were laid,” said a senior TMC MLA. TMC sources said that is when the rebel MLAs started coordinating and laying the groundwork for the revolt. At the centre of the plot was Uluberia Purba MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee, who has been recognised by the Speaker as the LoP.

The plan gathered momentum last week after Ritabrata visited Delhi, where he met Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, a source said. “After Ritabrata returned from Delhi, the plan gathered pace. Ritabrata convened one meeting after another at the MLAs’ hostel and in a private hotel of Kolkata. All the MLAs started receiving calls to unite against leadership that had largely been mum and not proactive. However, our main target was Abhishek Banerjee. We are not against Mamata Banerjee, but we can’t accept Abhishek’s leadership anymore,” said a rebel MLA.

Things came to a head during the signature forgery controversy. While the TMC leadership submitted a letter to the Speaker’s office designating Sobhabdeb Chattopadhyay as LoP, Nayona Bandyopadhyay and Ashima Patra as Deputy LoPs, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip, on June 1, Adhikari added fuel to the fire, saying Ritabrata and fellow TMC MLA from Entally, Sandipan Saha, had complained that their signatures had been forged while MLAs Arup Roy and Baharul Islam had admitted to the CID, which was probing the matter, that they too had not signed the letter.

“We are against Abhishek Banerjee and have no problem with Mamata Banerjee’s leadership,” another rebel MLA said. “I did not attend any meeting. But I talked to the CM once and had a meeting with Ritabrata Banerjee once.” Another MLA, who belongs to the minority community, said, “Mamata Banerjee is not ready to understand that we are not against the party. We can’t go with the BJP and in the fight against BJP, we need Mamata Banerjee.”

Targeting Abhishek and political consultancy firm I-PAC, which the TMC second-in-command had brought to the state to handle the party’s election strategy, a senior MLA said, “We were humiliated by what Abhishek Banerjee did in the signature controversy. Senior MLAs are not ready to accept that. We have no problem with Mamata Banerjee, but we will not allow Abhishek or any agency to interfere in the functioning of the party.”

The TMC’s MLA from Kulpi in South 24 Parganas, Barnali Dhara, told The Indian Express, “We have no other option other than going with this group. I am not a political person as such and became MLA to work for people. I thought I could do that if I went with this group. Our workers are facing violence and we are not receiving help from the administration. On Wednesday, the CM sat with us after the administrative meeting and assured us that he would talk to the administration. I think I will get help from the administration as well if I remain with this bloc.”

The TMC on Monday promptly expelled Ritabrata and Saha on grounds of “anti-party activities” and sent a letter to the Speaker communicating its decision. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee too alleged publicly that a conspiracy had been hatched in Delhi to break her party. In a Facebook Live, the TMC chairperson said, “Someone who earlier was with the CPM (Ritabrata Bandopadhyay) is doing it all. We gave him a ticket by depriving others. My apologies to those who were deprived; 2,500 of our party offices vandalised, thousands of workers have been arrested. The police are threatening our MLAs, asking them not to step out of their homes. The police are asking MLAs to support a person whom we have expelled (Ritabrata Banerjee), and break our party.”

Now, with the party hamstrung in Bengal, the speculation in the TMC is that a split in the parliamentary party may occur within a week. “BJP leaders will not sit idle after breaking our legislature party. Abhishek Banerjee will be cornered even in Parliament as well. We are expecting two-thirds of our MPs will revolt very soon. That will be the last nail on the TMC’s coffin. Like Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, rebel TMCs will get the rights to the symbol and the party name,” said a senior TMC MP.