Is Tmc Headed For A Split Talk Of Secret Meetings Maharashtra Model Adds To Buzz

As Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee hit the streets of Kolkata on Tuesday for the first time since being voted out last month, the buzz of an impending split in her party has gained ground, with the phrase Maharashtra model being used by le... As Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee hit the streets of Kolkata on Tuesday for the first time since being voted out last month, the buzz of an impending split in her party has gained ground, with the phrase “Maharashtra model” being used by leaders close to the former Chief Minister. This came a day after the former ruling party in the state expelled MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha for alleging that their signatures had been forged on a letter endorsing the TMC’s legislature party leadership. The party has appointed Sobhabdeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and Nayana Bandyopadhyay and Ashima Patra as Deputy LoPs, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip. Though the party submitted a fresh letter to the Speaker’s office on Tuesday, with a police probe going on, it has not yet been accepted. There was a buzz in the city’s political circles about meetings between Ritabrata Banerjee and several TMC MLAs on Thursday, hours after he was expelled. MLAs and Mamata loyalists Kunal Ghosh and Madan Mitra also alleged that there had been a secret meeting. Read | Mamata vows to defeat BJP: Jiyeenge toh BJP ko hataake jayenge “We have heard they had a meeting at the MLAs’ hostel and in a private hotel as well. They are trying to follow the Maharashtra model,” said Ghosh, the Beleghata MLA. Mitra, the Kamarhati legislator, said, “I have heard a meeting was organised in a private hotel by some rebel MLAs, but I don’t have more details.” Read | As TMC shrinks in Bengal, can a united Congress, Left rise to fill Oppn vacuum? Ritabrata denied any secret meetings and said he had met only fellow legislators Rathin Ghosh and Shiuli Saha. “I am not that big a leader who enjoys the support of more than 50 MLAs. I never believed in tomorrow; I have always believed in the present. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” he told reporters. Read | Nearly 60 out of 80 TMC MLAs skip Mamata meeting, party blames attack on its MPs Mamata, meanwhile, alleged a conspiracy orchestrated from Delhi — referring to the central BJP leadership — to dismantle her party. “Our MLAs are not being allowed to leave their houses and the police are asking them to quit TMC and form a ‘new TMC’ . Who will build this new TMC? Those who have been with the party since the beginning, or those who won on the party symbol?” she said, adding attempts to intimidate her party would be “foiled”. The speculation about a rift in the party comes at a time when MLAs have been conspicuous by their absence in meetings held in the TMC chief’s home in Kolkata’s Kalighat