Fresh blow to TMC: West Bengal party president Chandrima Bhattacharya resigns

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Chandrima Bhattacharya resigned from all her party posts on Saturday, dealing another blow to the Mamata Banerjee. Chandrima, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, was appointed president of the party’s West Bengal unit after the TMC suffered heavy losses in the assembly elections in May.TMC split into factions led by Mamata Banerjee and leader of the opposition Ritabrata Banerjee in the state assembly. In her resignation letter to Mamata Banerjee, Bhattacharya also relinquished all other responsibilities within the party, including her role as the authorised signatory for the TMC’s bank accounts and its affiliated organisations, as well as the person authorised to represent the party before the Election Commission.“At the end I would like to state that I have the highest regards for you and will remain ever respectful to you,” she wrote.Following the defeat, Mamata dissolved all existing party committees and restructured the organisation.TMC split into factions led by Mamata Banerjee and leader of the opposition Ritabrata Banerjee in the state assembly.

Speaking to reporters later, Bhattacharya said her decision followed a phone call from Mamata Banerjee, who allegedly blamed her for allowing the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel faction to take control of Trinamool Bhavan, the party’s headquarters in Kolkata.“I was deeply hurt when she (Mamata Banerjee) called me to say that I have handed over the party office to them (the rebels), although I do not know how I did that. It is evident that my loyalty and trustworthiness were shaken from their roots. This had never happened in the past. Once those fundamental binding forces are gone, there is no reason for me to stay in the party or return to it,” Bhattacharya said.TMC leader Kunal Ghosh suggested Bhattacharya’s move had been planned in advance. “Chandrima Bhattacharya was our didi. When she was in office, they (the rebel faction) came. If she had remained there for some more time as president, locks would not have been put. But she left… When Mamata Banerjee was CM, Chandrima Bhattacharya held the highest number of ministerial portfolios. If she is upset, there could have been communication, but joining the opposition camp suggests that it was pre-planned.“Bhattacharya’s resignation comes amid a widening split within the TMC. The party is now divided between factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee. Several senior leaders, including former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, Jawed Khan and Golam Rabbani, have joined the dissident camp.The crisis has also extended to Parliament, with 20 of the TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs merging with the National Citizens’ Party of India and pledging support to the BJP-led NDA government.