Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra launched a sharp attack on senior party leader and Kolkata North MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, alleging that he had misled the party about his whereabouts before being seen at Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav’s residence in New Delhi.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Bandyopadhyay and rebel MP Satabdi Roy met Bhupender Yadav amid intensifying speculation that the dissident group may move Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday to seek recognition as a separate parliamentary faction, reported Hindustan Times.
Mahua Moitra and Kunal Ghosh jibe at Sudip Bandyopadhyay
In a post on X, Moitra claimed that Bandyopadhyay had informed party leaders that he was visiting a hospital in Kolkata for treatment related to a stomach problem. However, she said he was later seen on television at the Union minister’s residence in Delhi.
“His mask & his wig both come off – Sudip Bandyopadhyay told us he was in Apollo Kolkata with a tummy bug when we suddenly saw him on tv in Delhi in Bhupinder Yadav home. Dada pls change your X handle to @SudipBJPBTeam at least. Don’t use our name,” she wrote on X.
Besides Moitra, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh also took a swipe at Bandyopadhyay, citing what he termed the MP’s past record of changing political parties. He said former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had given him “positions and honour”.
“Mamata didi gave positions and honour to these people, and this is what these people give in return. Sudip Bandyopadhyay has a history of changing parties,” he said.
He further alleged that Bandyopadhyay had built his political career by misleading Mamata Banerjee and said that he had earlier voiced concerns about him within the party.
Six-term MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay held a meeting with BJP leader and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav in Delhi on Saturday, fuelling further speculation that another Lok Sabha member may align with the rebel faction.
Within hours of the meeting, the TMC relieved Bandyopadhyay of his role as president of the party’s North Kolkata organisational district and replaced him with state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
So far, 19 of the TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have backed the proposal to establish a separate parliamentary group in the Lower House.
Meanwhile, in the West Bengal Assembly, 64 of the party’s 80 MLAs, under the leadership of Ritabrata Banerjee, opposed party chief Mamata Banerjee’s decision to appoint Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition.
