Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra asserted on Wednesday that the Trinamool Congress's legitimacy, identity and political strength continued to rest firmly with its founder Mamata Banerjee, dismissing claims by dissident leaders that they represented the "real" Trinamool Congress.
Speaking in an interview with veteran journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire, Moitra rejected the narrative being advanced by the breakaway faction and insisted that the party remained inseparable from Mamata's leadership.
“The Trinamool Congress is a party that was started by Mamata Banerjee and gets its legitimacy, its votes and its mandate from Mamata Banerjee. Any so-called rebel or split, whatever there may be, is not the Trinamool Congress. As long as Mamata Banerjee is alive and active in politics, the Trinamool is the Trinamool,” she said while expressing her loyalty to the former chief minister.
Moitra's statement comes at a time when Trinamool is grappling with internal dissension and a changing political landscape in Bengal following the BJP's ascent to power, setting the stage for an intense battle both inside the party and outside to regain her strength and support base.
Elaborating on the issue of legitimacy, that become the major issue now within the party, Moitra argued that political parties derive their identity primarily from their founder and official symbol.
“When you speak about a rebel entity, only two things make a party — the leader who started it and the symbol. They have neither. Whatever has happened, the real Trinamool still remains with Mamata Banerjee. The party may become smaller, but that does not take away its legitimacy,” she said, rubbishing the claim of Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of forming a separate block with about 20 parliamentarians only from the Lok Sabha.
In remarks that are likely to resonate within the Trinamool rank and file, Moitra also defended party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee against criticism from detractors who have blamed him for the party's recent setbacks.
Claiming that Mamata's nephew and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek was not at all bad for the party, Moitra claimed to have watched him how he worked for the party. "I have seen the structures he has brought to the party. It is very easy to point fingers and say Abhishek was all bad. But he wasn't so,” she said.
Targeting chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, Moitra said his political focus remained centred on defeating Abhishek. “Suvendu has a one-point agenda — to finish Abhishek Banerjee because he believes it was only Abhishek who prevented him from rising beyond a certain point in the party (when he was in Trinamool).”
Reiterating her ideological opposition to the BJP, Moitra declared that the battle against the saffron party remains her foremost political commitment.
“For me, it is very clear that the BJP is my enemy and will remain so till death. Whatever is wrong with my party, it is still the best platform to fight the BJP and the majoritarianism that India faces today. Until the BJP is out of power, I will never leave politics,” she said.
Moitra appeared to be very much optimistic about a political comeback by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee. “Mamata can come back to power. She will come back to power, and those of us who are with her are not going to leave her. We will finish the BJP in our lifetime,” Moitra asserted.
