Former West Bengal minister Madan Mitra has quit the All India Trinamool Congress and thrown his weight behind the breakaway Trinamool Congress faction headed by Ritabrata Banerjee, dealing another setback to Mamata Banerjee. Mitra, who represents the Kamarhati seat in North 24 Parganas and was long seen as one of Mamata Banerjee’s trusted lieutenants, did not hold back on his reasons for leaving.
“I had suggested to Abhishek Banerjee that he step aside for six months or a year. I told him, let us build the party, and then you can come back and take your seat but he refused. He said, I won’t leave the party. The party is sinking, the boat has gone under. People are dying. Yet, the party decided or rather it was forced to accept that everyone else could die, but Abhishek had to be saved,” he said.
He went on to express his disappointment at how the party had changed. “It is deeply saddening. The party belongs to everyone, yet it seems to have been reduced to serving only Abhishek. I earnestly request Mamata ji to come let us view this as a marathon. We will surely cross paths along the way. Let us see which horse surges ahead. I have resigned from all the positions. Though I remain an MLA. I have left everything associated with Trinamool. That means I am no longer a Trinamool MLA in the functional sense,” Mitra said.
The exit comes just weeks after Mamata Banerjee took direct charge of the party’s West Bengal unit, announcing herself as state president while bringing Mitra and Kunal Ghosh into the state committee as general secretaries. “As the AITC Chairperson, I announce that from today, I will also assume the role of the West Bengal state TMC President. Two more individuals – Madan Mitra and Kunal Ghosh – have been inducted into the party committee. Both have been appointed as General Secretaries of this committee,” she had said in a video message at the time.
That reshuffle, however, failed to paper over the cracks within the party, which is already grappling with an internal power struggle after Ritabrata Banerjee’s faction reportedly seized control of the TMC headquarters. The rift comes on the back of a bruising Assembly Election defeat for Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.
Explaining his decision further, Mitra said working within the current setup had simply become untenable. “I resigned because I was no longer able to work effectively within Mamata Banerjee’s TMC. I have stepped down from all the committees I was part of. More and more of Mamata Banerjee’s long-time associates are leaving the party because, in my view, the leadership is focused on promoting Abhishek Banerjee rather than strengthening the organisation. TMC is not one person’s party,” he said, adding that his concerns had fallen on deaf ears. “I raised these concerns with Mamata Banerjee on several occasions, but they were not addressed. In my view, Abhishek Banerjee wants decisions to be made solely on his terms and does not allow others to play a meaningful role. As a result, I believe the party’s position is weakening.”
Welcoming Mitra into the fold, West Bengal Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee framed the split in far bigger terms. “It is a fight against authoritarianism, fascist tendencies and the concentration of power, and in support of democracy and collective decision-making. More people are joining this movement,” he said, adding a pointed warning for the ruling camp: “When attempts are made to undermine democracy and impose authoritarian rule, they may succeed for a while. But in the long run, democracy will prevail.”
The BJP, for its part, chose to watch from the sidelines with a touch of mockery. State General Secretary Locket Chatterjee dismissed the churn as none of her party’s concern. “Who is going where is not our concern. Our only focus is the development of the people. TMC as a party is almost finished. At present, it is unclear who is aligning with whom and who is trying to protect their own interests,” she said.
