The “ashol” (real) Trinamool Congress led by Ritabrata Banerjee wrested control of the party’s operational headquarters off the EM Bypass from the so-called Kalighat bloc on Friday evening.
The high-velocity manoeuvre unfolded less than 24 hours after the rebel camp staked a formal claim to the name and twin-flower symbol (besides the assets and the funds) before the Gyanesh Kumar-led full bench of the Election Commission (EC).
By capturing the Metropolitan office that has been serving as the Trinamool headquarters since the actual headquarters at Uttar Panchannagram started getting rebuilt, Team Ritabrata sought to present the commission with a fait accompli before the July 6 deadline for formal submissions issued to both sides.
Accompanied by a phalanx of seniors deemed fiercely loyal to Mamata Banerjee till May 4 or even thereafter, the 47-year-old leader of the Opposition arrived at the Metropolitan premises shortly after 6pm. The rebel convoy included Firhad Hakim, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha, and Akhruzzaman.
The dissidents moved through the ground floor offices, convened an impromptu strategy session, and locked the main iron gates from the outside, pocketing the keys.
“We are Trinamool Congress and this office belongs to us,” Akhruzzaman, designated as the “ashol” TMC’s treasurer, said outside.
“This building represents the passion of ordinary party workers. We have signed a fresh agreement with the landlord, Montu Saha, and the office will function under our control from Saturday morning,” he added.
Since the Assembly poll results, Saha — the owner of Modern Decorating, which handled Trinamool’s July 21 mega event and most other major party programmes attended by Mamata — had been keen to reclaim the building for “business purposes” and had formally asked Kalighat to vacate it.
Saha and his son, Amit Saha, had recently complained that the Kalighat faction was refusing to vacate the premises.
Exploiting this friction, Ritabrata purportedly held a quiet meeting with Amit at an EM Bypass hotel on Friday afternoon and drafted a fresh lease agreement that effectively locked the Mamata loyalists out.
Outside the gate, the rebels hung a new banner that deliberately omitted the faces of Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Instead, the name of “ashol” Trinamool chairperson Arup Roy shone prominently.
The occupation triggered an immediate counter-mobilisation from the Mamata loyalist camp, led by Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh, within whose Assembly constituency the Metropolitan office is situated. Kunal rushed to the spot accompanied by Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra, the Kalighat camp’s IT cell chief Upasana Chowdhury and former ward 91 councillor Baiswanor Chatterjee.
Finding the gates locked and guarded by the rebel bloc’s private security — with Kolkata Police and even central forces deployed outside — Kunal tore into the dissident leadership, branding the takeover an “unfortunate encroachment engineered with state complicity”.
“Their culture of encroachment is on full display,” he said, visibly agitated after speaking to the cops, who stated they would allow unlocking and entry but not the breaking of the lock, nor would they permit Kunal to place another lock.
“With the direct support of the government and the police, an expelled individual (Ritabrata) has turned this faction into the B-team of the BJP. Genuine workers are suffering on the streets while these leaders run to luxury hotels and the homes of BJP bosses,” he added.
When Kunal demanded that the Pragati Maidan police themselves intervene to break the rebel lock, the officials refused outright, informing the loyalist delegation that Kolkata Police would not interfere in an “internal property dispute”. Kunal subsequently left the spot to brief Mamata and seek legal advice.
Seeking to avoid a complete rupture with the party’s traditional support base, the rebel camp left the numerous cutouts and portraits of Mamata in and around the building untouched. Akhruzzaman maintained they still viewed her as an “advisor”, even as they dismantled her control.
Kunal, Madan and Baiswanor later went to the Pragati Maidan police station and lodged a formal complaint against the Ritabrata bloc for illegal encroachment and criminal trespass.
Hakim said: “I don’t know anything about this ashol or nokol (fake) business. There is only one TMC, which I am part of. This is our party office, I have come here... so what? Mamata Banerjee is my leader. I never said she should be an advisor. Those saying that, ask them. No, do not place others’ words in my mouth.”
With both sides directed by chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to submit their cases by 5.30pm on Monday, the battle lines have moved firmly from New Delhi’s institutional corridors to the asphalt of Calcutta’s EM Bypass.
Plea on martyrs
Barasat MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the leader of Trinamool’s Lok Sabha rebel bloc that has merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India in the NDA, sent a letter to chief minister Suvendu Adhikari regarding justice for the martyrs of July 21. She alleged that the Trinamool government failed to fulfill its promises.
The case has not been reopened, nor has the Justice Sushanta Chatterjee Commission report been published. Kakoli urged Suvendu to re-investigate the case and publish the report.