Madan Mitra, Mamata's trusted lieutenant, joins rebel Trinamool camp
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's band of loyalists shrunk further on Wednesday after veteran Trinamool leader and former minister Madan Mitra joined the rebel camp
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's band of loyalists shrunk further on Wednesday after veteran Trinamool leader and former minister Madan Mitra joined the rebel camp. Mitra, once seen as Mamata's foremost trusted lieutenant who stood beside her when she broke away from the Congress, resigned from all posts in the Trinamool. The development comes a day after the Enforcement Directorate summoned the Trinamool MLA's wife and his two sons for questioning in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged municipal recruitment scam.
Read Full Story Buzz over Mitra's possible switch had been doing the rounds for the past few days, but it was all but confirmed when he met Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee earlier in the day. Addressing the media, Mitra squarely blamed Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee for his move and the Trinamool's mess. "I had suggested to Abhishek Banerjee that he step aside for six months or a year. I told him, let us build the party, and then you can come back and take your seat, but he refused," Mitra said.
"The party is sinking... Yet, the party decided, or rather it was forced to accept that everyone else could die, but Abhishek had to be saved. It is deeply saddening. The party belongs to everyone, yet it seems to have been reduced to serving only Abhishek," the Kamarhati MLA said. Mitra's shock move only deepens the crisis for Mamata Banerjee. The party, which was routed in the Bengal elections just two months ago, is facing its gravest crisis after suffering a series of rebellions.
First, around 60 of its 80 MLAs broke away under Ritabrata Banerjee's leadership and have claimed to be the "real TMC" in the Assembly. Within weeks, 20 Lok Sabha MPs merged with the little-known outfit Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and backed the BJP-led NDA. Ends
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