The Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel faction on Monday claimed that they have removed former Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).
The decision was taken during a meeting of the rebel faction held at a Kolkata hotel. According to reports, around 500 Trinamool Congress leaders, including around 60 MLAs of the Ritabrata faction, attended the meeting.
Former Kolkata mayor and a close associate of Mamata Banerjee, Firhad Hakim, also attended the meeting, along with several other party functionaries, including district presidents.
Abhishek Banerjee, who was the second-in-command, has also been “suspended” from the party.
The rebels announced the formation of a parallel organisational structure – a 30-member National Working Committee – to look after the affairs of what they claimed is the “real Trinamool Congress.”
According to the rebel faction, MLA Arup Roy has been elected as the new chairperson of the “real” TMC.
Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Rathin Ghosh and Sabina Yasmin were named new vice presidents, while Ritabrata Banerjee, who led the rebellion against Mamata Banerjee, was appointed general secretary.
Javed Khan and Sandipan Saha were also appointed general secretaries, while Akhruzzaman Ansari was designated as the new treasurer.
The Mamata Banerjee-led faction, however, refused to accept the decision. “Mamata Banerjee made the party. Ritabrata and others came from CPI(M). What importance do they hold?” said TMC MP Saugata Roy.
Earlier today, Mamata Banerjee, who is yet to react to the development, met her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
After the Assembly polls debacle, Mamata Banerjee’s party has broken into three factions – one led by her, the other by Ritabrata Banerjee, and the third by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who has merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), along with 19 other Lok Sabha MPs.