The rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, has begun preparations for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, deciding to field candidates in all 209 wards and convening a meeting of senior leaders this weekend to finalise its electoral strategy.
The move comes amid an intensifying organisational battle within the TMC, which has remained divided between the Mamata Banerjee-led Kalighat camp and the dissident faction headed by Ritabrata following the party's defeat in the Assembly elections.
According to a PTI report, speaking in the Assembly, Ritabrata said his faction would contest all 209 wards after the proposed delimitation of the Kolkata civic body.
"After delimitation, there will be 209 wards, and our candidates will fight against the BJP in every one of them," he said.
He added that the faction would contest all wards in other municipalities, including Howrah. A collective decision on the civic poll strategy will be taken at a meeting of senior leaders and those handling election-related responsibilities later this week, he said, reported PTI.
The process of identifying candidates has already begun, with the faction asking its North and South Kolkata district presidents to prepare lists of probable candidates for the proposed wards.
The faction is also preparing for public hearings on ward delimitation, scheduled to begin on September 5. Party representatives have been instructed to attend the hearings with documents, maps and specific objections to the proposed reorganisation of wards.
At an all-party meeting on delimitation, TMC deputy leader in the Assembly from the rebel camp, Sandipan Saha, had already conveyed the faction's objections.
The delimitation notification has effectively set the stage for elections to the Kolkata and Howrah civic bodies. The BJP has already constituted its election committee and begun preparations, while the Ritabrata faction is seeking to demonstrate that it has an organisational structure capable of taking on both the BJP and the rival TMC camp.
Ritabrata also held discussions in the Assembly with former Kolkata mayor and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim and senior TMC leader Javed Khan on the proposed strategy meeting.
Leaders close to the Ritabrata camp believe the Election Commission could rule on the dispute over the party's election symbol and control of its funds before the civic polls. They argue that such a decision would strengthen the faction's position and facilitate the participation of its candidates.
The faction has simultaneously stepped up its efforts on the electoral-roll front, demanding that the state government ensure, before Durga Puja, the inclusion in electoral rolls of voters whose applications under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) remain pending before tribunals.
The Ritabrata camp is expected to approach Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and the State Election Commission over the issue.
The preparations for the civic polls come against the backdrop of an unprecedented organisational rupture in the TMC following its Assembly election defeat.
The party's 80-member legislative group has become the principal battleground in the power struggle, with 65 MLAs backing Ritabrata's claim to the Leader of the Opposition's post and rejecting the nominee supported by the Mamata Banerjee-led leadership.
The dissident legislators subsequently convened a special session, elected senior MLA Arup Roy as chairperson and announced a parallel national leadership structure. They argued that the existing leadership under Mamata Banerjee had lost the confidence of a majority of elected representatives.
The confrontation later spilled into Parliament, with 20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs aligning with the newly floated NCPI and joining the BJP-led NDA, further deepening the organisational divide.
Against this backdrop, the Kolkata civic polls have acquired significance beyond the municipal contest. For the two rival TMC camps, the 209 wards could become the next battleground in their struggle for political legitimacy, organisational control and the loyalty of the party's grassroots cadre.
(With PTI inputs)
