A Meeting That Should Worry Mamata Banerjee As Her Party Bleeds Rebels

A meeting in Bengal last night underlines that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rebel crisis could be worse than she may have expected.

After a dramatic resignation in the state assembly on Wednesday afternoon, Trinamool Congress rebel Suvendu Adhikari drove straight to the home of a party MP two hours away.

Trinamool MP Sunil Mondal was mourning a death, and officially, Mr Adhikari went to offer his condolences. But it turned out to be a mini-summit of disgruntled Trinamool leaders.

Among those present  was Jitendra Tiwari, a Trinamool MLA and former  Asansol mayor who had complained on Monday that his city was denied central funds by his own government because of political reasons. His speech at a public meeting yesterday could not have pleased his party.

"It is a fact that in Trinamool Congress, after Mamata Banerjee, the most popular leader in the party is Suvendu Adhikari. You cannot deny it. The leaders should have sorted out any differences. They should have asked him what his issues were and sorted them out. But they can't even sort out problems of small leaders like me. How can they sort out Suvendu Adhikari's," Jitendra Tiwari said.

He claims Mamata Banerjee has called him for talks on Friday. After his outburst and his meeting with Mr Adhikari last night, it is not clear if that meeting will take place.

"They want to be in control of everything. But if the party is gone, what will you be left with? Let the party survive," he said, without naming anyone.

Sunil Mondal, the host, had also voiced his discontent in the morning yesterday against Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist advising Mamata Banerjee in her re-election campaign for the Bengal polls five months away. He railed against Mr Kishor's I-PAC after the meeting too.

"Those speaking of rebellion are saying they are angry because they are losing ground and forced to speak up. Why isn't the party rectifying itself? That seems to be the cause of common anger. Why are people from I-PAC telling us to do this and that, even the colour of the shirt we should wear? Then what about the role of the politicians? We want to talk to the Trinamool. It they accept our point of view, great. Otherwise we will have to see," said Sunil Mondal.

Mr Adhikari has not made it official but he is widely expected to switch to the BJP on Saturday. Reports suggest he will do so with much fanfare in the presence of one of the BJP's top leaders, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visits Bengal on the weekend.

More Trinamool leaders are speculated to be on their way out and some of them are openly voicing their anger.

The Chief Minister's camp has gone on the offensive.

Mamata Banerjee herself led the attack at her rally in Cooch Behar. "Some people will come and go with the tide. But the real Trinamool is intact," she said before Mr Adhikari's resignation drama.

She also attacked the BJP for  "shamelessly" shopping for her party leaders, even the top ones. "Can you imagine they called up the state Trinamool president Subrata Bakshi and said they wanted a meeting? Also, Anubrata Mondal in Birbhum? What kind of politics is this?"
Anubrata Mondal is Birbhum district chief and known to be close to  Mamata Banerjee. She calls him by the nickname 'Keshto'.

Trinamool leaders claim most of the people who may exit the party are doing so because they know they were not going to be picked as candidates for the state polls.

Yet another section, the Trinamool sources claim, may be succumbing to central agency pressure related to ongoing investigations in coal theft and cow smuggling, among others.