Kolkata: In the wake of a massive political rebellion within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the breakaway faction of party lawmakers, accusing them of betraying the electorate by aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Her remarks come a day after 58 out of the TMC’s 80 newly elected MLAs marched to the chamber of Assembly Speaker Rathindranath Bose on Wednesday. Led by recently expelled MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, the rebel group claimed to have crossed the critical two-thirds threshold required to bypass anti-defection laws, formally staking claim over the TMC Legislature Party and naming Ritabrata Banerjee as the official Leader of the Opposition (LoP).
Moitra also targeted the Election Commission, accusing it of acting as a “pawn of the BJP,” and criticised the behaviour of central forces and the alleged removal of voters from electoral rolls during the elections.
Moitra emphasised that the rebel MLAs won their seats entirely under the leadership and name of Mamata Banerjee, securing votes that were strictly anti-BJP. She noted that the TMC secured 41% of the vote under the party’s symbol and Mamata Banerjee’s name.
Challenging the rebels’ claim of independence, Moitra stated they cannot simply claim they are free. She dared them to resign from their seats and fight elections fresh under what she mockingly termed the “Bijemool” symbol.
“The Election Commission acted as a pawn of the BJP. We all witnessed how the central forces behaved and how voters were removed from the electoral rolls. If we accept the people’s mandate, we can see that the TMC secured 41% of the vote under Mamata Banerjee’s name and the TMC’s symbol. So, all those TMC MLAs who won under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership won because of Mamata Banerjee’s name. Those MLAs can’t claim that they are free now; they must resign and fight under the Bijemool symbol. They won on anti-BJP votes, but now they will side with the BJP,” he said.
Welcoming the exit of dissenters, the TMC MP asserted that the party doors are wide open for anyone wishing to leave, calling the current crisis an opportunity for a “purification” of the party.
“Mamata Banerjee started from scratch. There is no place for fear if you are fighting against the BJP. How can you claim that you are the original Trinamool? I want to say to all the workers that this is a party under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership. Those who want to leave may do so. The door is open. There should be a purification of the party,” she said.
The political landscape in West Bengal remains highly volatile as the breakaway faction’s cross-over significantly alters the numbers in the State Assembly. While the rebel faction claims legal immunity from defection by crossing the two-thirds mark, the TMC leadership is digging in its heels, framing the rebellion as an ideological betrayal of the people’s mandate.