KOLKATA:West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is now facing the threat of rebellion from her former confidant and Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy after his legislator son Subhrangshu on Friday openly challenged her leadership.
Following this, the TMC Disciplinary Committee will decide on the action to be taken against Subhrangshu.
Even as Mamata is currently on a visit to Bangladesh, Subhranghsu said, “My father is being repeatedly insulted by the party and I will not tolerate it. It was he who built the TMC from scratch and at any cost we will not leave the party as we are the ‘loyal soldiers’. People know where the TMC was in 2004 and 2006.”
“If all the party block presidents know my father, it is a matter of pride. If my father is called a tiger, I do feel proud because it means that I am a tiger cub,” the TMC MLA from Bijpur in North 24 Parganas district said.
Rallying to his father’s defence, Subhrangshu remarked sarcastically, “I am proud that all block presidents know my father. In fact, he knows all the TMC workers in 77 thousand polling booths in the state. It is a great compliment.”
Questioning Mamata’s leadership credentials, he pointed out, “During last year’s Lok Sabha polls, the party lost in several Assembly segments to the BJP, including one in South Kolkata. Was there an inquiry?”
“Questions are being asked about the erosion of votes in the Bongaon Lok Sabha byelections and it was alleged that I had sabotaged the party’s prospects. At the meeting in Kalighat, 40-50 people were in attendance and were delegated various responsibilities except me. Then how could I sabotage?” he asked.
On Thursday, shortly before she left for Dhaka, Mamata, without naming Mukul , said, “When a party is in a bad state even a frog can scratch. Our party is now in good shape and strong. Even if a tiger tries to maul, we can tear out its claws.”
Prior to that on the differences with Mukul, she sounded dismissive. “Don’t ask me this question. Ask my party block presidents. There are many and they will reply,” she had said.
There were allegations that Subhrangshu had worked in favour of the BJP during the byelections.
In the Bhawanipore Assembly segment,which is represented by Mamata herself,the TMC had trailed the BJP by 185 votes in the 2014 LS polls. Even though TMC nominee Subrata Bakshi won Kolkata South, Mamata was extremely upset as it indirectly meant she was defeated on her home turf.
The TMC Disciplinary Committee met at a hastily convened session after Subhrangshu’s remarks. “Our MLA from Bijpur had said many things and embarrassed the leadership by violating the party line. We will watch the video clips and newspaper reports and suggest proper action to the leadership within 72 hours,” TMC state general secretary Partha Chatterjee said.