KOLKATA: Firhad Hakim, a four-time Trinamool Congress MLA and close aide of party supremo and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is likely to join the rebel group of 58 MLAs led by Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Trinamool Legislature Party in the West Bengal Assembly.
Hakim, on Monday, held a meeting with Bandyopadhyay in his Assembly chamber, three days after resigning as mayor of the TMC-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), citing difficulties in discharging his duties following the party’s defeat to the BJP in the recent Assembly elections.
The more than one-hour meeting was attended by Sandipan Saha, the deputy LoP and another rebel MLA. The development assumes significance as the TMC faces an unprecedented internal crisis after the emergence of a rebel camp claiming to be the “real Trinamool” in the Assembly and a split in the party’s Lok Sabha unit.
Earlier in the day, 20 Trinamool MPs led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, another long-time aide of Mamata Banerjee, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla declaring support for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
On Wednesday, Hakim, also a councillor from KMC Ward 82, had conveyed his desire to resign as mayor to Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence. He cited difficulties in running the civic body after the BJP formed the government in West Bengal by winning 208 of the 294 Assembly seats.
Hakim is the first Muslim mayor of Kolkata since the KMC was established in 1876. He became mayor in 2018 and simultaneously held the posts of minister and mayor.
The TMC suffered a major split in the Assembly after the House on June 3 recognised the group of 58 rebel MLAs led by expelled legislator Bandyopadhyay as the “real Trinamool” and accorded it the status of the principal opposition party.
In an unprecedented move, Speaker Rathindranath Bose accepted a letter signed by the 58 MLAs and recognised Bandyopadhyay as LoP and Akhruzzaman, MLA from Raghunathganj and a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, as Chief Whip.
The submission of the letter intensified the political crisis within the Trinamool Congress, which won only 80 of the 294 Assembly seats in the elections.
Earlier, the party leadership had expelled Bandyopadhyay and Saha, MLA from Entally, on charges of anti-party activities.
With the support of more than two-thirds of the party’s legislators, the rebel group is expected to strengthen its claim over the Trinamool Congress’ Joraphool symbol, signalling a further challenge to Mamata Banerjee’s control over the party’s legislative wing.
Following the expulsions of Bandyopadhyay and Saha, the Trinamool’s strength in the Assembly fell to 78 MLAs.
Earlier, Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool national general secretary and MP from Diamond Harbour, had written to the Speaker proposing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, MLA from Ballygunge, as LoP. However, the proposal was not accepted after allegations that signatures of several Trinamool MLAs had been forged.
The Assembly authorities subsequently lodged a complaint with Hare Street police station. With the approval of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CID launched a probe into the alleged forgery.
The SIT has already questioned several MLAs, including Nayona Bandyopadhyay, Kunal Ghosh and Baharul Islam. The CID has also summoned Abhishek Banerjee for questioning.
The developments have drawn comparisons with Maharashtra in 2022, when Eknath Shinde broke away from the Shiv Sena with a majority of the party’s MLAs, formed a separate legislative group, and later secured control of the party’s name and symbol. The split led to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, and Shinde subsequently became chief minister with BJP support.
Sources in the rebel camp said Bandyopadhyay and Saha had worked systematically to secure the support of two-thirds of the party’s MLAs, the threshold required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
The signs of rebellion had become evident on May 31, when only around 20 of the Trinamool’s then 80 MLAs attended a key meeting convened by Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence.
