File photo of Mukul Roy (left) with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee. (Agence France-Presse)
The split between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and her former right hand man Mukul Roy is almost certain.
The party's disciplinary committee today met in Kolkata to discuss 'prima facie' anti-party statements by Mr Roy's son, Subhrangshu, who is the Trinamool MLA from Bijpur in North 24 Parganas, a seat he won in 2011. Earlier in the day, Subhrangshu had said, "I am proud of my father. He has built the party... but in the Trinamool, there is only one post (Mamata Banerjee). The rest are lamp posts."
Subhrangshu came under Trinamool scanner for alleged anti-party activities after the Bongaon by-poll results earlier this week. Though the Trinamool won Bongaon Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of 2.11 lakh votes its vote share dropped by 10,000 in the Kalyani Assembly segment.
Trinamool sources say the party believes Subhrangshu's comments were the reason for this.
The Bijpur lawmaker retorted saying, "I had no role in elections in Kalyani. But if the party's performance in Kalyani is being probed, it should also probe results in the Kolkata South Lok Sabha polls." In that election in 2011, the BJP had edged out Trinamool in the Bhawanipore Assembly segment from where Ms Banerjee is an MLA.
The apparent split's effects are visible in Delhi too where Ms Banerjee's belongings were moved out of Mr Roy's 181 South Avenue bungalow which was effectively the party office in the capital. Ms Banerjee used to stay there whenever she visited Delhi. But today, her treadmill, mattress and cupboard were moved out from Mr Roy's house and into 184 South Avenue which is the flat allotted to her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee.
"The language and manner in which the MLA from Bijpur has spoken about internal matters, we feel prima face it has violated the party line. The disciplinary committee has met today. It will collect all evidence and meet again in 72 hours. After that we will recommend action against the MLA," Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee said.
Ms Banerjee is in Dhaka right now. It is likely the Trinamool is waiting for her to take the final step.