Worsening the ongoing crisis within the Trinamool Congress, former chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s staunch loyalist Kalyan Banerjee has criticised her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Kalyan, who has been backing TMC in the face of a big rebellion and mass exits by MPs, has said that while he supports Didi, he doesn’t feel the same about her bhaipo (nephew).
“I am still with Didi but won’t tolerate Abhishek Banerjee’s arrogance. I have quit all cases related to Banerjee,” Kalyan Banerjee has said, HT has learnt. Even though Banerjee has been slamming rebel MPs over the past few days, his latest ultimatum to the TMC supremo has fuelled speculation of a split in the party.
‘If Didi chooses Abhishek…’
“Let Didi decide whats she wants to do. Till now I am with her,” Banerjee said, adding: “If Didi decides to go with Abhishek then I would decide my own.”
Banerjee has joined a chorus that was amplified after the TMC suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the BJP last month. Reservations against Banerjee paved the way for one of the biggest rebellions Trinamool ever saw.
Earlier this month, 58 Trinamool Congress lawmakers disowned Banerjee and pleaded with Mamata to be their adviser. The rebel camp, which made up for over three-fourth of the party’s MLAs in Bengal, was led by expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee.
A similar scene is now playing out in Parliament, with several MPs leaving the TMC’s side. While at least 14 lawmakers met in Delhi earlier this week, more names quit their Parliament membership, hinting at a big TMC split. The latest to join this list were Sushmita Dev and Prakash Baraik, who left their Rajya Sabha memberships and fuelled buzz of joining the BJP.
What Kalyan Banerjee said before
Not so long before criticising Abhishek Banerjee and hinting that he would rethink his political future if Mamata sided with her nephew, Banerjee was
