Nephew vs party: Mamata faces tough choice as TMC faces collapse

 Is Abhishek Banerjee responsible for the split in Trinamool Congress (TMC)? The answer lies both within and outside Mamata Banerjee’s faction. The former West Bengal chief minister and MP Kalyan Banerjee had an altercation on the stage at the July 21 rally on Cathedral Road. MLA Kunal Ghosh signalled to Kalyan to cut short his speech after Abhishek Banerjee arrived on stage, and shortly after Mamata arrived. Kalyan, who spoke for around 20 minutes, stopped midway twice when both arrived at the spot and greeted the crowds. After completing his speech, Mamata showed her watch and reportedly told Kalyan that he had spoken for an hour, leaving little time for other senior party leaders to speak. An angry Kalyan did not stay quiet and retorted that it was courtesy to allow someone to complete their speech.

Why is it important? Because leaders are exiting Mamata’s camp, leaving her faction with fewer key leaders than the rebel Ritabrata Banerjee faction, or the 20 Lok Sabha MPs merging with Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and her Rajya Sabha MPs joining the BJP. A day later in Delhi, mere hours before being suspended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for unparliamentary comments towards women MPs of the rebel faction, Kalyan said that while he loves and respects Mamata and will stand by her, the TMC supremo needs to think about what she is doing while explaining his conduct on stage a day earlier.

Kalyan went on to suggest that Mamata should hit the streets to instill ‘confidence’ among all party workers. There were about 3,000 people at the July 21 Martyr’s Day rally compared to the lakhs of people at the rallies held until last year. This figure, however, was higher than the audience at the similar rally on Mayo Road by the rebel faction. Furthermore, the disgruntled MP’s question to Abhishek was why he was not going on the streets like a politician should, instead of going to and fro from his house to Mamata’s Kalighat residence. The message to Mamata’s nephew and second-in-command in the party was clear: Abhishek has to step out, even if he has to face ‘eggs, lathis, or abuses’.

Cut to the July 21 rally by the Ritabrata faction. The latest MLA to switch over was Madan Mitra, who, like Kalyan, said he considers Mamata as his leader and that she should consider siding with their faction, and that no one will throw eggs at the former chief minister.

The message regarding her nephew, though, was a strong one: for Mamata to ‘leave’ Abhishek’s hand within a month and hold the hands of TMC workers. “It is your party; it is not Abhishek's party”, was Mitra’s outright message to Mamata while expressing his open dislike for Abhishek.

The dissent against Abhishek is out in the open. The message to Mamata by her close aides, or once close aides, is clear – that the TMC founder should not remain blind to her nephew’s misdeeds. Abhishek, on his part, threw an open offer on the Martyr’s Day rally stage, asking rebel party leaders to return to their bloc, following which he would resign. However, in the same breath, Abhishek confidently said that the rebel leaders would not do so.

The love for her nephew over love for her party is a tough choice for the TMC supremo to make. The fact remains that Abhishek is going nowhere from the Mamata faction, at least for now.