Battle for TMC symbol intensifies as Ritabrata camp holds second councillor meet

The Ritabrata Banerjee-led breakaway faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) held another meeting with former Kolkata councillors, signalling its continued attempt to challenge Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.

The move was met with a counter from the party’s ‘Kalighat wing’ (named after Mamata Banerjee's address), which filed police complaints against the dissidents, accusing them of “forgery and impersonation”.

New meeting

Around 47 former councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) reportedly attended the meeting, held at a private banquet hall in Topsia, East Kolkata, on Saturday (June 28). The gathering was aimed at rebuilding the party’s support base in the city following the Assembly election setback and ahead of the civic body polls expected later this year.

Also read: TMC split and fight for symbol: Who gets the twin flowers?

This was the second interaction between the breakaway faction and former councillors within a week. The earlier meeting was held at a five-star hotel in New Town on June 22.

Banners and signage at both meetings displayed the TMC's grass-and-twin-flower party symbol. They sported its name as 'All India Trinamool Congress', though images of supremo Mamata Banerjee remained conspicuously missing.

Fight for the symbol

Meanwhile, Mamata loyalist and TMC's joint national secretary Dola Sen lodged two complaints with the New Town and Pragati Maidan police stations, alleging that the rebels resorted to "forgery of party symbol and impersonation of the name All India Trinamool Congress" in the two meetings.

The complaints also referred to "circulation of false documents/electronic communications" by the rebel camp and accused it of "holding unauthorised meetings".

Also read: TMC vs TMC: Lok Sabha Speaker to hear both factions and decide on official recognition

"We are the real Trinamool Congress. We have the numbers and are the principal opposition in the state assembly. There can be no question about our legitimacy. We have constituted our national working committee and will soon announce our political programmes," rebel TMC MLA and deputy leader of the party in the House, Sandipan Saha, said.

Saha, along with Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee - both of whom have been expelled from Mamata Banerjee's TMC - were present at the Saturday (June 27) meeting, displaying their grip over the dissident leaders.

Dissolution of KMC board

The West Bengal government dissolved the KMC board on June 8, leading to all elected councillors, chairpersons, and members of the Mayor-in-Council to vacate their offices and transfer executive powers to an administrator, following Mayor Firhad Hakim's resignation.

Hakim, a former Mamata Banerjee confidante who is believed to have moved over to the rebel camp, was absent from Saturday's meeting.

Sources said the meeting with the former councillors centred around working on a roadmap for the KMC polls, which Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said would be conducted around December, after completing a delimitation exercise of the city's wards.

Mamata camp hits back

The leaders also discussed providing legal aid and other support to the party councillors and workers who have been arrested following the BJP's ascent to state power, the sources said.

Also read: TMC churn: Mamata camp seeks disqualification of 20 rebels in Parliament

"The rebel MLAs are more preoccupied with legal and organisational disputes than with political battle. Mamata Banerjee personally created the TMC symbol, and the party's electoral support is based on her leadership rather than individual leaders. The votes received by the party belong to Mamata Banerjee's leadership, and that any symbol endorsed by her would receive public support," TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who remains loyal to Mamata, said.

"The mandate of over 2.6 crore voters in favour of Mamata Banerjee remains intact despite recent defections. The departure of some councillors, MLAs, or MPs does not diminish the party's public mandate. The party's support base will remain unaffected by the exit of a limited number of elected representatives," she added.