Kamarhati legislator Madan Mitra, a close aide of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and someone who was part of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) since its birth in 1998, joined the rebel camp led by Ritabrata Banerjee on Wednesday, a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sent summons to his wife and two sons.
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Mitra was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 12, 2014 in the Saradha chit fund case and released on bail after 629 days and arrested again by CBI in May 2021 in the Narada sting case. On Tuesday, ED sent summons to his wife and two sons for questioning regarding alleged corruption in recruitment by the Kamarhati municipality.
Birbhum district leader Anubrata Mondal, who joined the rebel group last week after being summoned by state police in an old extortion case, brought a serious allegation against Abhishek shortly after Mitra joined the new camp.
Mondal, who spent two years in judicial custody at Delhi’s Tihar jail as a prime accused in the cattle smuggling case, said, “I went to jail because of Abhishek… Mamata is ruined because of him. Nobody will stay.”
“All these people are entering the BJP’s washing machine to get protection…,” Banerjee said.
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With this, the rebel faction has 60 of the TMC’s original 80 lawmakers and the Mamata faction has 20. The rebel camp, which was formed with 58 MLAs signing a letter to the speaker, however claims to have at least 65 members but has not published their names so far.
Also Read | Mamata loyalist MLA Madan Mitra joins TMC rebel camp, says no link to ED summons
“From this moment I resign from the national working committee, the post of chief whip in the assembly and the post of general secretary of Mamata Banerjee’s TMC. I was in the TMC and I remain there. I am only changing rooms,” Mitra said after joining the rebel group.
“My family has been summoned by a federal agency. My family will go and cooperate with the agency. But that is not linked to my joining (the rebels) today. Can the ED prove the allegations?” Mitra said.
Also Read | ‘On special invitation of ED’: Mahua Moitra dismisses Madan Mitra’s exit from Mamata’s TMC for rebel camp | Watch
Ritabrata Banerjee said the collective effort of the rebel group to fight family-controlled politics in a party got strengthened with Mitra’s joining.
“Ours is a collective fight against family-controlled politics. Our collective effort got stronger today. Mitra is a veteran,” he said.
Mitra blamed TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for the current state of the party, which suffered a drubbing in the assembly elections.
“It is indeed sad that when history will be written it will say that a party got ruined because of just one person,” Mitra said.
“Abhishek wants the party to follow only his commands. He does not listen to anyone. Millions of our workers are helpless today. We have to take care of them. If the party is not taken care of right now then we can never defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party. Abhishek can never defeat the BJP,” Mitra said.
Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “How can the BJP know where Madan Mitra will go?…”
