Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A claim that 20 Trinamool Congress MPs want to break away and align with the NDA has plunged West Bengal politics into fresh turmoil, with senior MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar accusing her party of lawlessness, misgovernance and losing touch with the masses.
The veteran parliamentarian, who has been associated with Mamata Banerjee since 1984, said the rebel MPs had already informed the Speaker of their decision to sit separately and seek alignment with the NDA.
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“We are twenty of us who are dissatisfied with the functioning of our party inside the Lok Sabha and on the ground in the state of West Bengal,” Dastidar said in an interview with India Today. “We have written to the Honorable Speaker that we want to be a part of the NDA.”
“We accept the people’s mandate of West Bengal, who have given us clear verdict against the ruling dispensation, against the anarchy, against the cut money, against the lawlessness, against the misgovernance. So we have decided. Twenty of us. We have written to the Honorable Speaker that we want to be a part of the NDA.”
Dastidar, who resigned from TMC in May, also did not rule out the possibility of an eventual merger with the BJP. Asked whether the rebel faction could formally join the saffron party, she replied: “The possibility remains, but let us see what happens.”
NDA ENTRY, BJP MERGER NOT RULED OUT
Asked whether the rebel MPs intended to merge with the BJP or form a separate political entity, Dastidar stopped short of giving a definitive answer but left the door open to a future merger.
“We are at the moment part of the NDA, and we’ve just given in the letter, so we’ll have to wait for the decision from their side,” she said. When pressed on whether a merger with the BJP was a possibility, she replied: “The possibility remains, but let us see what happens.”
Her comments come amid reports that several dissident TMC leaders recently met senior BJP leaders, including Union minister Bhupender Yadav and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari.
‘DOES THAT SHOW KAKOLI DI IS AN OPPORTUNIST?’
Rejecting allegations that the revolt was motivated by electoral setbacks or political opportunism, Dastidar pointed to her four-decade association with Mamata Banerjee.
“I started with her in the year 1984,” she said. “I lost four elections with her, or rather I think five elections till 2005, but I was with her till today. So does it show that Kakoli Di is an opportunist?”
Recalling her political journey, she said she had endured violence and intimidation while working for the party. “I have been beaten blue on the road. I have been locked up in rooms during election with a gun pointed at my head.”
Dastidar noted that she contested multiple elections for the party before securing her first victory in 2009.
RG KAR CASE BECAME A TURNING POINT
The MP suggested that the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year had become a major factor in her disillusionment with the party. “The RG Kar massacre, the RG Kar murder, the RG Kar rape of an innocent doctor, and also breaking down of the evidence by armed hooligans inside the premises of a hospital is intolerable,” she said.
Responding to questions about why she did not leave immediately after the incident, Dastidar said she had refrained from speaking out because she feared it could harm the party ahead of crucial elections.
“I thought speaking out would harm my party,” she said, adding that her decision to rebel had not been taken in haste.
‘IT IS NOT PERSONAL’
Dastidar denied suggestions that her revolt was directed against either Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“It is not personal. It is the policy. It is the failure of governance. It is the total mayhem created in the state. It is the lawlessness. It is the underdevelopment,” she said. “The people of the state have suffered miserably under what was happening.”
The veteran MP also cited concerns about the condition of the education, health and entertainment sectors in West Bengal. “What happened to the film industry? What happened to the education side? What happened on the health side? We were getting to know, and that is why we have separated.”
DENIES BJP PRESSURE, MONEY ALLEGATIONS
Dastidar firmly rejected allegations that BJP leaders had pressured rebel MPs or offered inducements to switch sides. “Not at all. Not at all. I met Suvendu Adhikari after years only today when I found him in the meeting,” she said.
Calling allegations of financial incentives absolutely rubbish, she added: “Not a single paise has crossed between the honorable MPs and the Bharatiya Janata Party, not one rupee.” “There is no promise of any kind of purchasing of MPs. This is absolutely based on ideological difference with the present AITC.”
While the Speaker is yet to take a decision on the group’s request, Dastidar indicated that the rebel MPs had no immediate plans to return to the Trinamool Congress. “We are here now. We are fed up with this party’s actions, and we want to sit separately and work for the country, for the development of the country,” she said.
Asked if she had any advice for Mamata Banerjee, Dastidar struck a restrained note. “Who am I to dictate terms or even give guidance to such a tall leader?” she said, before adding, “She has lost contact with the masses.”
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
