After powerful Trinamool satrap Suvendu Adhikari and his erstwhile Cabinet colleague Rajiv Banerjee it is now the turn of senior party leader and Asansol Mayor Jitendra Tewari to unfurl the banner of rebellion in the Trinamool Congress.
In a rather astounding letter Tewari has charged the State Government with blocking central funds. The letter written to State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim says how Asansol corporation had been perennially starved of funds whereas all the Government allotments had gone to Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the neighbouring Rajarhat-Salt Lake municipal board.
A war of words soon ensued with Hakim blaming Tewari of being in touch with the BJP. A meeting had been lined up for Tuesday to iron out the differences, inside sources said adding Hakim will meet Tewari in Kolkata in the presence of election strategist Prashant Kishore who has been appointed by the party to prepare its electoral strategy for 2021. Tewari who said that Asansol did not receive central funds of Rupees 2,000 crore due to state government which blocked its passage, also denied Hakim’s allegations of being in touch with BJP.
The letter reads written by outgoing Asansol Mayor and present Administrator “… due to political reasons”, Asansol was deprived of Rs 2,000 crore under the Government of India’s Smart City Mission project despite being selected by the Ministry of Urban Development.
Earlier powerful TMC leader and former Minister and MP Suvendu Adhikari quit his ministerial post and returned the State police security cover before snapping all the communication channels with the party.
He was followed by Forest Minister Rajiv Banerjee who alleged only corrupt sidekicks were given responsible assignments in the party. He would not only not retract from his comments but also said “aage aage dekho hota hai kya … (wait and watch what unfolds next).” There are other leaders and MLAs like Mihir Goswami who already joined the BJP this month, Sil Bhadra Dutta and a set of other MLAs who have openly revolted against the party. Jitendra Tewari is only next in the line.
Meanwhile the BJP has dismissed Trinamool Congress’ fear that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee might be murdered as “unfounded, manufactured and politically designed to win sympathy” from voters.
Reacting to the remark of a possible assassination bid on the Chief Minister by the BJP, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said “this is an old tactic which Mamata Banerjee tries on the people of Bengal to garner sympathy votes. She has done so earlier also. But this time this will not cut much ice with the electorate … the ploy will bomb in the electoral market…”
Earlier senior Trinamool Congress leader and Panchayat Minister Subroto Mukherjee told in a meeting that the BJP was planning to assassinate the Chief Minister as she was the stumbling block between the saffron party and power in Bengal.
“They (BJP) are hatching a conspiracy to eliminate Mamata Banerjee if it fails to come to power in Bengal in the coming elections,” Mukherjee said adding however that the people and the TMC cadres would shed their blood to protect Banerjee who was the mother of crores of poor people in Bengal.
“They (read BJP) are making secret plans to secretly assassinate Mamata Banerjee … This they can do even by hiring people for the purpose. But the people of Bengal will foil their plans,” Mukherjee who also tagged with his speech an excuse for the December 10 attack on BJP president JP Nadda’s convoy said. Accusing the BJP of trying to gain sympathy he said “Our members, following an investigation, have confirmed that the BJP hired people to hurl stones at his vehicle so as to bring bad name to Bengal, humiliate Mamata Banerjee” and find out an excuse to impose Article 356 in the State.”
Erosion of public support is making the TMC to talk nonsense BJP strongman and MP Arjun Singh said. Singh said that “Mamata Banerjee herself is a threat to all the opposition parties and the people of Bengal… she is a terror… how can she be terrorized… even if we are to believe that she is facing a threat on her life then it is not from the BJP but her own men … who does not know about the infighting and defections in the Trinamool.”