In what appears to be a split wide open within the Trinamul Congress, the party’s three MPs — Kunal Ghosh, Tapas Pal and Shatabdi Roy — were the latest to join the group of disgruntled party leaders on Friday.
In a revolting mode, Mr Ghosh slammed the party leadership and even announced supporting another party MP from the Lok Sabha Somen Mitra, a prominent figure in the dissident camp, in the latter’s next political move.
Mr Ghosh’s scathing attack came at a programme at Bowbazar where two Lok Sabha MPs, Mr Pal and Ms Roy, were surprisingly present with Mr Mitra and his wife Shikha, a Trinamul MLA. Ms Roy praised Ms Mitra for her “courage to speak the truth”.
Their rebellion did not go down well with the highest leadership as sources indicated Mr Ghosh, Mr Pal and Ms Roy have been showcaused.
Earlier, Mr Ghosh claimed, “None of us enrolled ourselves in the Trinamul in its good times.
Tapas Pal followed Mamata Banerjee and fought for the artists. But he was cornered in the party by those who now sit at the Writers’ Buildings. My moral support is with Somenda and always will be for him in the future whatever decision he takes.”
Mr Ghosh added, “Now I am being blamed for the Saradha episode. Two days ago, when sessions in both the Houses of the Parliament were underway, me, Somenda and another MP Sougata Roy were chatting in the Central Hall. Suddenly Mr Roy told me: ‘You do not need to worry as the Saradha hype has died down’.” The Rajya Sabha MP claimed, “In front of Somenda I made it clear that I would not allow it to die down even though you would try it to die down it by putting guns on my shoulder. I will not leave even an inch to those who had blamed me for the episode.”
Asked if he would quit the Trinamul, Mr Mitra said, “I am yet to decide but cannot confirm about the future. Those who came forward selflessly and joined the Trinamul are now tracing the steps back. The leader knows all. Those who are insulted within the party are venting their anger.”