Bengal TMC Crisis Highlights: Abhishek will not have any role in our camp, says Bengal LoP Ritabrata

The BJP on Wednesday accused former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "insulting" BR Ambedkar after a video purportedly showed her paying floral tributes to him while wearing footwear.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla shared a short video clip on X, and said "insulting" Ambedkar has become the identity of the Trinamool Congress.

"Ambedkar ji's insult is Trinamool Congress's only identity. Trinamool Congress has insulted Ambedkar. The way in which, while paying floral tributes to Ambedkar ji, Mamata Banerjee did not even bother to remove her slippers. This shows the mindset of TMC, Mamata Banerjee and her family," he said.

Ritabrata Banerjee, the TMC rebel leader, launched a fresh attack on party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, asserting that he would have "absolutely no role" in the newly formed legislative bloc. The leader claimed that neither the rebel legislators nor the party organisation had any connection with Abhishek and alleged that he had remained out of public view for 26 days after being attacked.

Speaking to reporters after leaving Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence, veteran TMC MLA Madan Mitra launched a sharp attack on rebel leader Ritabrata Banerjee, questioning how someone expelled from the party could claim to be the Leader of the Opposition.

Calling the move "illegal", Mitra said the TMC would challenge it both politically and legally. He alleged that the rebel camp was acting at the behest of the BJP and accused its leaders of lacking the courage to openly join the saffron party.

"The gates have been opened to allow the garbage to leave the party," Mitra said, asserting that those using the TMC's name were trying to sabotage the organisation from within. He also maintained that party workers remained firmly behind Mamata Banerjee and had full faith in her leadership despite the ongoing rebellion.

A key meeting at TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence in Kolkata is over, but party's general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is still inside.

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday said TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee was being "paid back in her own coin", drawing parallels between the current turmoil within her party and the defections that weakened the grand old party in West Bengal after the 2016 Assembly elections.

The former Bengal Congress chief used the opportunity to appeal to "grassroots TMC workers disillusioned by the ongoing crisis", stating that the Congress remained open to those who had worked for the TMC out of conviction and had faced political persecution on its behalf.

(with inputs from PTI)

The ED has summoned TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to appear before the agency for questioning on June 15 in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam.

Meanwhile, Abhishek, Mamata Banerjee and top brass of TMC are in a huddle at Mamata's Kalighat residence as the party battles an internal turmoil.

In another big blow for the TMC, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, an aide of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, will resign from his post and Mamata Banerjee has accepted his plea amid an internal turmoil roiling the party nearly a month after its defeat in the Bengal Assembly polls.

(This post has been corrected after an earlier version stated that Firhad Hakim had resigned as Kolkata Mayor)

Defending the move to form a separate bloc within the Assembly, Ritabrata Banerjee said the dissident MLAs remained loyal to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress and had acted to end the uncertainty over the selection of the Leader of the Opposition.

"Our leader is Mamata Banerjee and we are from the TMC. It has become a matter of ridicule in society that the TMC has been unable to elect a Leader of the Opposition. We have come forward to save the party," Banerjee told reporters.

He appealed to Banerjee to endorse the arrangement, saying, "We appeal to our leader Mamata Banerjee to give her consent to it."

Banerjee also announced that Raghunathganj MLA Akhruzzaman would serve as the designated Chief Whip of the newly formed dissident TMC bloc in the Assembly.

Expelled TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee has been recognised as the Leader of Opposition by the Speaker in a big blow to party chief Mamata Banerjee. He has been given the keys to the Leader of Opposition room.

"We have fought as a team. We are 58 MLAs now. We are the principal opposition. Two more are with us, but they are out of state. But they may consider us. Two more will be added and the total number is 60," the legislator said.

Once celebrated as the Left's blue-eyed boy, Ritabrata Banerjee was in 2018 welcomed into the Trinamool Congress fold. Today, he stands at the centre of a rebellion that could see TMC founder Mamata Banerjee lose control of her party. All about Ritabrata, who could end up being Bengal's Eknath Shinde. READ MORE HERE

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's administrative meeting at the state secretariat, Nabanna, has concluded. TMC MLAs, including members of the rebel camp led by Ritabrata Banerjee, have left for the Bengal Assembly.

As the Trinamool Congress grapples with internal turmoil, the party's general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, is at her aunt and chief Mamata Banerjee's house in Kolkata's Kalighat.

Here is more interesting news. There seems to be no end to the drama in the TMC. Previously, we told you that three TMC MLAs attended the administrative review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in Nabanna. In fact, we have learnt from sources that 18 TMC MLAs have attended the meet. They are Javed Khan, Firhad Hakim, Nayna Bandyopadhyay, Kunal Ghosh, Ritabrata Banerjee (expelled), Sandipan Saha (expelled), Ashok Deb, Arunava Sen, Samir Panja, Priya Pal, Gulshan Mallick, Tapas Maity, Nilima Mistry, Abdul Khaleque Molla, Baharul Islam, Paresh Ram Das, Jaydeb Halder and Samir Jana.

So, whom have the rebel TMC faction proposed as the key leaders in the Bengal Assembly? While Ritabrata Banerjee has been proposed for the post of the Leader of the Opposition, Akhruzzaman has been named as the chief whip of the party. The names of MLAs Seuli Saha, Sabina Yesmin, Javed Khan and Sandipan Saha have been proposed as deputy leaders in the House.

While the rebellion played out at one end, another development raised eyebrows in Bengal. Three TMC MLAs believed to be close to Mamata - Ashok Deb, Nayna Bandopadhyay and Kunal Ghosh - were seen attending the administrative review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in Nabanna. Ghosh was seen entering Nabanna with a file in hand. The development comes a day after the trio attended a protest called by Mamata on Tuesday against post-poll violence.

Bringing you some unrelated news from Bengal. The Suvendu Adhikari-led government has decided to celebrate Bengal Foundation Day across the state on June 20, with programs planned in every district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to visit Kolkata on June 20.

We bring you more of the latest developments from Bengal. Amid the internal turmoil, TMC has now dissolved all party committees and frontal organisations in West Bengal. "The party will undertake a comprehensive exercise of introspection, performance review and organisational assessment at every level. Based on the findings of this exercise, the organisational structure of the parent body and all frontal organisations will be reconstituted and announced in due course," the TMC tweeted.

Amid the crisis in the TMC and dissenting voices emerging almost every other day, Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has firmly rejected speculation over the induction of disgruntled Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders. Speaking to the media, Bhattacharya said the party would not admit "tainted" individuals and that "trinamoolisation of BJP" would never happen.

We are bringing you exclusive images from the Bengal Assembly, where a rebel TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee met the Speaker. In the letter, signed by 60 of the 80 TMC MLAs, the rebel faction endorsed Ritabrata as the LoP.