New Delhi, Feb. 20: Mamata Banerjee's belongings were taken out of Mukul Roy's MP quarters today and brought to a neighbouring flat allotted to her nephew, the short-distance shift of pillows and puja paraphernalia signalling a crucial change in Trinamul's pecking order.
After noon today, workers were spotted shifting the chief minister's belongings from the 181 South Avenue flat, allotted in the name of Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy, to 183 South Avenue flat that is next door.
The 183 South Avenue flat is the official residence of Abhishek Banerjee, who is the Diamond Harbour MP.
Roy, when asked about the shifting of Mamata's belongings, said he did not know much about what was moved out. "I did not live there (181 South Avenue). Mamatadi used to live there whenever she came to Delhi. I have no idea what belongings have been taken away," he said.
Prodded more, he said: "I will not tell anything now. I am still a Trinamul MP and a party member."
The 181 South Avenue flat had till now served as Mamata's residence in Delhi after she became the chief minister in 2011.
Roy, who is no longer the lone all-India general secretary of Trinamul, stays in a rented flat down the same road of MP flats - 141 South Avenue. All the flats are in Lutyens Delhi.
Yesterday, Mamata had spoken of her ability to "tear apart" a tiger's nail, signalling her readiness to take on adversaries within the party.
She recently snipped Roy's wings by taking away most of his party responsibilities and giving them to other leaders such as Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Bakshi and Derek O'Brien.
Yesterday, party spokesman Derek O'Brien tried to show Roy his place in the party by hinting that he had a post, but no role. In the same breath, Derek said Abhishek's responsibilities in the party had increased.
The choice of Roy's flat by Mamata was seen as a sign of his closeness to her. In Delhi, other party leaders used to look for Roy if they wanted to communicate with Mamata.
By choosing Abhishek's flat, Mamata today made it obvious to party leaders where the power had shifted.
Roy's ground-floor flat has a lawn where Mamata held meetings with leaders and also hosted occasional dinners for bureaucrats. She also utilised the lawn for her walks, sometimes also for a bit of badminton.
