Feb. 24: Trinamul's parliamentary party chief Mukul Roy did not find place in a committee the party announced today to chalk out House strategy.

The new committee has as members Lok Sabha MPs Kalyan Banerjee, Saugata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sultan Ahmed, and Rajya Sabha members Derek O'Brien and Sukhendu Shekhar Roy. Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikari and Trinamul additional all-India general secretary Subrata Bakshi are special invitees to the panel.

The absence of Mukul Roy from the team did not come as a surprise to Trinamul sources as he has been gradually sidelined in all party forums and stripped of many of his responsibilities.

'This was inevitable. At every step, Mamatadi is sending the message to Mukulda that he is not wanted,' a Trinamul leader said.

Apart from being the chairman of Trinamul's parliamentary party, Mukul Roy is the leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha. Although he retains his position as the upper House leader, sources said this was only on paper as he was not being invited to any of its meetings.

'The new committee does not make any sense since everybody knows all decisions are taken by Didi. Mukulda could convince Didi and she used to take his advice. It is clear that from now on, Mukulda will have no say in what the MPs do in Parliament,' said a Trinamul leader close to Mukul Roy.

Sources close to Mukul Roy said that last night, he went to Mumbai to offer puja at Siddhivinayak Temple and flew to Delhi this morning. He stayed away from the protest by Trinamul MPs today at the entrance of Parliament against the land ordinance.

'In the morning, he had said he was busy and would come later. We saw him in the Rajya Sabha later in the day,' a Trinamul MP said.

The apparent rift between Mamata and Mukul Roy increased after the Trinamul all-India general secretary was questioned by the CBI in the Saradha scam. Since then, several of Mukul Roy's responsibilities have been distributed among others.

'Dada (Mukul Roy) used to handle everything single-handedly, be it the Election Commission or the Rajya Sabha polls or wooing elected representatives from other parties. Now, Didi has to announce one committee after another to handle these responsibilities,' a Trinamul leader close to Mukul Roy said.

Mamata had earlier instructed Bakshi and party secretary-general Partha Chatterjee to share organisational responsibilities with Mukul Roy. Bakshi was recently made the additional all-India general secretary, a post Mukul Roy had held solely since Trinamul's inception.

Mukul Roy's son and Bijpur MLA Subhranshu has also come under the scanner for saying he could not be held responsible for Trinamul's decreased margin in the Krishnaganj Assembly bypoll. Subhranshu had also suggested that a probe should be conducted into the party lagging in the Bhowanipore Assembly segment, represented by Mamata, in the Calcutta South Lok Sabha seat last year. The Calcutta South seat is represented by Bakshi.

The Trinamul disciplinary committee headed by Chatterjee had said action would be taken against Subhranshu within 72 hours but no step was taken although the deadline ended on Monday.

Trinamul sources said the next meeting of the committee, which was scheduled for Wednesday, had been postponed.

'No decision has been taken on when the meeting would be held. It appears Didi does not want to rush into punishing Subhranshu, a first-time MLA,' a source said.

Subhranshu and Trinamul's Barrackpore MLA Silabhadra Dutta, who is close to Roy, left for Delhi this evening.

The disciplinary committee has served a showcause notice on former minister and party leader from Murshidabad Humayun Kabir, who is close to Roy, for alleged anti-party activities.

'He has been making statements against singer Indranil Sen, who is close to Mamatadi. This did not go down well with the leadership,' a Trinamul leader said.