KOLKATA:Trinamool Congress high command on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the maverick leader and the MLA from Kamarhati Assembly constituency Madan Mitra on charges of making “anti-party statements and causing inconvenience for the leadership”.
Since the day the party leadership announced the candidates for the forthcoming elections for 108 municipalities in the state, Mitra turned vehemently rebel. Targeting the party secretary-general and West Bengal commerce & industries minister, Partha Chatterjee at one point in time, Mitra made veteran Trinamool Congress MP, Saugta Roy his target.
On January 16, Mitra in a Facebook post said, “We cannot go to the CM’s office on Harish Chatterjee Street because of the security. Abhishek is so much busy that ordinary workers like us cannot reach him...” The preceding day, he said in another statement, “Maybe tomorrow Arjun Singh (a BJP leader will join the party (TMC) and become a spokesperson.”
Mitra was cautioned by the party command for his frequent salvos through Facebook Live after which he refrained from coming live for some time. But since the candidates for the municipal polls were announced he again became active on Facebook and started showering fresh salvos.
On Friday, the party high command took a decision to issue a show-cause notice to Mitra. The party’s disciplinary committee has maintained that Mitra has tarnished the image of the party by making such anti-party statements.
The notice came a day after Mitra said at Asansol that there is “no other face in the party other than Abhishek Banerjee after Mamata Banerjee”. “I like the childish face of Abhishek Banerjee. He is the only face of the party after Mamata Banerjee,” Mitra said. The party’s disciplinary committee feels that by saying this he has “clearly targeted the top leadership and hence he should be issued a show-cause notice”.
Speaking on this issue, Mitra told media persons that he will “surely reply to the show-cause notice”. “I am ready to face any question. But I had never gone against the party. Trinamool Congress is both my weakness and strength,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP’s national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said that Trinamool Congress is “currently witnessing an internal battle over the share of power and money”. The CPI(M) central committee member, Dr. Sujan Chakraborty described the show-cause notice as “an eyewash to divert media attention from the reality of violence unleashed throughout the state over the municipal polls”.
Also read:Didi again shows faith in Madan Mitra, allots him ticket from Kamarhati
