‘Misleading party workers’: TMC’s Kalighat camp files complaints against Ritabrata bloc for misusing party name, symbol

As the internal crisis within the Trinamool Congress has reached its peak, the Kalighat section of the party has now filed police complaints alleging that leaders of the rebel group led by West Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay are attempting to mislead workers by using the it’s name and symbol illegally.

Trinamool MP Dola Sen lodged the complaints on behalf of the Mamata Banerjee loyalist faction at Kalighat and New Town police stations. The complaints mention the names of Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Biplab Mitra.

Advertisement

Responding to the allegations, Ritabrata said, “Anyone can file a complaint. There are laws in the country and there is the Election Commission. Let people have faith in the law and the Election Commission.”

The move comes after Ritabrata’s camp organised a “special session” of Trinamool at a luxury hotel in New Town on June 22, which was attended by several party MLAs and former legislators.

In the session, the group reportedly formed a national working committee in which party chief Mamata Banerjee and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee were not included.

Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee suspects that other individuals may be operating behind the scenes in the activities of the dissident camp.

In a letter sent to the Officer-in-Charge of New Town police station, the party requested an investigation to identify those involved. The Kalighat group has also questioned the legitimacy of positions claimed by leaders of the Ritabrata camp.

Referring to a letter sent by Ritabrata to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Basu, the Kalighat camp said that Ritabrata described himself as the party’s “General Secretary,” a position that the party claims was never officially assigned to him.

In another complaint lodged at the Kalighat police station, Dola Sen alleged that Javed Khan and Sandipan Saha had called a meeting of all Trinamool councillors in Kolkata on Saturday, identifying themselves as general secretaries of the party.

She alleged that the dissident group was attempting to run a parallel organisation illegally to create confusion among party workers and supporters.

The complaint further alleged that the actions of the Ritabrata camp are damaging the party’s image and illegally using the party’s name and symbol.

The complaint also urged police to investigate how the dissident group has been issuing notices in the party’s name, who is financing printed materials, and which social media accounts are being used to circulate messages from the rebel faction.

Dola Sen requested the police to register an FIR and conduct a “fair and detailed” investigation into the matter.