In a major turning point for state politics, Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee’s longtime trusted aide and Kamarhati MLA, Madan Mitra, has officially joined the rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee. Bringing an end to all speculation, Mitra resigned from all Kalighat-based organizational posts and declared himself the “MLA of Bengal”. Adding a new dimension to the ongoing political battle, the veteran leader also launched a scathing attack against the party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee.
Intense speculation regarding Mitra’s political stance began on Tuesday night after he attended a dinner at the residence of veteran politician Swarnakamal Saha, father of Sandipan Saha, a prominent figure in the TMC rebel camp. While the Kamarhati MLA initially attempted to downplay the meeting as a mere courtesy call and an “invitation to eat biryani,” a formal meeting with Akhruzzaman in the Ritabrata faction’s assembly room on Wednesday cleared all doubts.
Significantly, this dramatic defection occurred shortly after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Mitra’s wife and two sons in connection with the municipal and teachers’ recruitment scam. Following the vertical split in the Trinamool Congress, when top leaders like Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Aroop Biswas, and Anubrata Mondal abandoned Mamata Banerjee for the Ritabrata camp, Mitra had remained steadfastly loyal to the party chief, even harshly criticizing the dissidents. Consequently, his sudden switch is being viewed as a massive blow to the ruling faction.
Scathing Attack on Abhishek Banerjee
Immediately upon joining the Ritabrata camp, Mitra became highly vocal against a section of the top leadership, specifically targeting Abhishek Banerjee’s methods. Breaking his previous silence on the matter, he expressed deep resentment, claiming that the decisions of one individual had pushed the entire party to the brink of ruin.
“The entire party has been destroyed because of Abhishek. The party was making decisions as if everyone else should perish, leaving only Abhishek to survive. This is extremely unfortunate. I have given up everything all the posts assigned to me, which were virtually as fragile as being written on a banana leaf except for the name given by my father, my education, and my MLA position. Although I won on a TMC ticket, from today onwards, I am the MLA of Bengal,” Mitra stated.
Political analysts consider Mitra’s defection and his description of the upcoming political battle as a “marathon” to be highly significant. Issuing an indirect challenge to the party supremo, he clearly indicated that they would cross paths again on the long road of politics, and time would reveal which horse ultimately wins the race. How this move alters the internal equations of West Bengal’s ruling party remains to be seen.
