In recent times, several associates of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee have earned her wrath by crossing over to the BJP.
Now, another aide, Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, has angered Banerjee, but not because he's moved closer to the saffron party. Chatterjee has earned Banerjee's ire because of his troubled relationship with his wife, another early TMC member.
Last year, Chatterjee, also cabinet minister in charge of fire service, moved a divorce petition against his wife, Ratna, at a court in Kolkata.
Chatterjee said in his complaint, “I was mentally harassed by her. Her demand was very difficult to fulfil for me. And the demand was increasing day by day.”
Chatterjee and his wife have been living separately since last year. The mayor left his house for his wife to move to a flat at Alipore, which Ratna alleges belongs to her brother.
Banerjee had warned Chatterjee that his domestic problems should not affect his political life given the important positions he holds in the government and party. When Banerjee's warnings were not heeded, she stopped inviting Chatterjee for many important government meetings.
Ratna is also a member of Trinamool Congress and both of them were known to Banerjee during their student days.
On Sunday, Chatterjee lodged a complaint with Kolkata Police that a close female friend of Ratna tried to get inside his flat forcibly despite there being a strong security presence at the gate of the apartment.
And in his complaint, Chatterjee claimed he had tried to draw attention of the police twice about being harassed by his wife.
“My life would have been at stake had the woman (friend) been able to get inside the flat. I am amazed why police did not respond despite my complaint,” Chatterjee reportedly wrote in his complaint.
Chatterjee refused to say anything about what is happening in his personal life. Ratna is also keeping silent on the matter. But the war between husband and wife has ruffled feathers inside the party.
Banerjee asked the administration to distance itself from what was going on between husband and wife.
“That perhaps led the mayor to talk about police action,” said a TMC leader. However, there are no indications that Chatterjee will move away from the party after his breakup with his wife. Chatterjee had recently said, “Without Mamata Banerjee, I am nothing in politics.”