Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Madan Mitra on Wednesday joined the rebel camp led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, dealing another political setback to the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, even as he insisted that he remained a member of the party.
The veteran Kamarhati MLA announced his resignation from all national and state organisational committees of the Mamata Banerjee-aligned "Kalighat TMC". He also stepped down as the party's chief whip in the West Bengal Assembly with immediate effect.
"I have only changed my room, not my house. I am very much in the TMC," Mitra told reporters after meeting Ritabrata Banerjee in his chamber in the Assembly.
Dressed in a white kurta and wearing his trademark dark sunglasses, Mitra sat beside the rebel leader before declaring that he would no longer hold any organisational responsibility under the Mamata Banerjee-led faction while continuing as a Trinamool Congress MLA.
"I am resigning from all national and state committees of the Kalighat TMC. I am also stepping down as chief whip. But I remain a Trinamool MLA," he said.
Mitra's switch is the most significant defection to the rebel camp since the organisational split within the TMC became public and is expected to deepen the crisis confronting the Mamata Banerjee faction.
One of the Trinamool Congress' most recognisable mass leaders and a long-time trusted lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee, Mitra had in recent months publicly expressed differences with sections of the party leadership, while repeatedly asserting that he had no intention of leaving the party.
His decision to align with the Ritabrata Banerjee camp gives the rebels their highest-profile political face so far and is likely to strengthen their claim that discontent within the TMC extends beyond a handful of dissident legislators.
The Ritabrata Banerjee camp has, over the past few months, steadily challenged Mamata Banerjee's leadership, claiming to represent the "real" Trinamool Congress. The rebels have announced a parallel organisational structure and claimed control of the party headquarters, claims that have been rejected by the Mamata Banerjee faction.
Speculation over Mitra's move had intensified on Tuesday night after he visited the Entally residence of rebel MLA Sandipan Saha.
Although Saha was away at the time, Mitra held a lengthy discussion with the legislator's father and former MLA Swarnakamal Saha. After returning home, Sandipan Saha spoke to Mitra over the phone, during which the senior legislator expressed his desire to meet him. Assembly sources had indicated that the two would meet on Wednesday, fuelling speculation over Mitra's political future.
The political development came a day after the Enforcement Directorate summoned Mitra's wife and two sons in connection with the alleged municipal recruitment scam.
While neither Mitra nor the rebel camp linked the summons to Wednesday's developments, the timing added another layer to the political speculation surrounding his move.
The latest crossover comes as the power struggle within the TMC intensifies, with both camps staking claim to the party's political legacy, organisation and support base.
Meanwhile, Mamata has reitereated her support for her nephew Abhishek Banerjee amid the growing rebellion within the Trinamool Congress, Banerjee also on Wednesday apologised to the people "on behalf of the traitors" and asserted that neither she nor her family had ever compromised for political survival.
In one of her strongest public defences of Abhishek Banerjee since the split in the party, Mamata said he had been made an "excuse" to target the TMC despite repeated summons issued to him and his family members. She praised him for continuing the political battle instead of seeking "relief" through compromise.
"Abhishek Banerjee has been turned into an excuse. His family members were summoned. Had he wanted, he could have got relief. But he did not run away from the battlefield.
The way he has continued to fight, all his flaws have been forgiven," the former chief minister said while addressing party workers during a Facebook Live.
Her remarks come as several senior leaders who have left the Mamata Banerjee camp in recent weeks have accused Abhishek Banerjee of running the party in an authoritarian manner and fostering a culture of intimidation.
Targeting the defectors, Mamata Banerjee said, "I apologise before the people on behalf of the traitors. I have not sold my 'bibek' (conscience) for political survival."
She alleged that she and her family had faced sustained political persecution because they had refused to compromise.
"Had I compromised, we would not have faced so much torture. Those who have compromised have many bags and luggage of their own," she said, in an apparent swipe at leaders who have switched allegiance.
Claiming that the BJP was using investigative agencies and the police to engineer defections, Mamata Banerjee alleged that several leaders had crossed over out of fear.
"We still have 18 MPs in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Those Parliamentarians who have joined the 'setting company' have done so because they are afraid of the police," she claimed.
In an apparent reference to the BJP, she said leaders leaving the TMC were entering the saffron party's "washing machine" as well as the BJP-backed rebel camp.
Referring to senior MLA Madan Mitra's decision to join the rebel camp earlier in the day, she said, "The person (Madan Mitra) who left today had yesterday told us that he and his family had received summons. We understood then that he might switch camps. Those who have a setting are joining the BJP's washing machine."
Without naming other leaders, Mamata Banerjee alleged that those facing investigations were choosing political convenience over conviction.
Asserting that the defections would not weaken her resolve, she said she was prepared to rebuild the Trinamool Congress from scratch if necessary.
(With inputs from PTI)