If Mamata is denied a by-poll option, she has another way out

If the BJP allegedly got Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat to resign on the grounds that he could not hold a by-election within six months due to the pandemic, with an eye to deny West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee the chance to hold a similar bypoll, this strategy may not work, says a media report.

Mamata Banerjee, who narrowly lost in Nandigram in the recent WB Assembly elections, has to get elected to the Assembly within six months of assuming office or else she loses her office.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, the Trinamool Congress, however, remained unruffled on Sunday (July 4) by these alleged moves by the BJP to get rid of Mamata Banerjee.

The report quoted party MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy who said that if this by-election route is closed for her, Mamata will “resign two days before the stipulated six months deadline ends and take oath as chief minister again after two days.”

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The six-month deadline ends on November 5. However, Mamata Banerjee has another route to ensure her CM chair is secure. She could work on reviving the state Legislative Council to become a member in this upper house, which was abolished in Bengal in 1969.

The proposal to form the Legislative Council has been mooted, in fact, at the first cabinet meeting which the CM had held after she assumed power. This is what Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray had done to remain CM.

However, the NIE report pointed out that the stumbling block here was that this proposal required the approval of the Parliament, which is currently dominated by the BJP.

Roy however said that they will wait for approval. “Bengal had a Legislative Council since Independence, so there should not be any issue in its revival,’’ he told the media.

Meanwhile, it is the Congress that has alleged that Tirath Singh Rawat’s resignation as chief minister stating that he is unable to hold the by-elections within six months due to the Covid pandemic, was reportedly done by the BJP with the purpose of pulling the rug under their bête noire Mamata’s feet. And, prevent her from getting elected as an MLA which will force her to step down as CM.

The BJP top leaders can start to breathe easy once again if that happens.