• Source:JND

West Bengal: In a move signalling growing internal friction within the Trinamool Congress, 60 of the party's 80 MLAs skipped a scheduled meeting at former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence on Saturday, leading to its cancellation.

The party later attributed the absence of MLAs to a 'sudden and emergent ground situation' following attacks on TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and party MP Kalyan Banerjee.

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60 Out Of 80 MLAs Skip Meeting

According to a report by NDTV, citing Trinamool Congress sources, a meeting of newly elected legislators called by legislative party leader Shovandeb Chattopadhyay at Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence in Kolkata was called off due to low attendance.

Only 20 MLAs turned up for the meeting. Sources added that while attempts were made to contact those absent, they were incommunicado.

What TMC Said?

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the MLAs who did not attend the meeting were managing the ground situation following the Saturday attack on Abhishek Banerjee and the subsequent alleged assault on Kalyan Banerjee on Sunday.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Ghosh said, "The Trinamool Congress legislature party meeting was scheduled. Yesterday, our All India General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee was attacked. After that, a lot of MLAs and leaders held a protest rally in many areas. Our senior MP Kalyan Banerjee was also attacked today... The police are detaining people from the protests... We are postponing the meeting for now... The All India Trinamool Congress is giving a call to its workers that a protest will be held in all the wards and blocks against the attack on Abhishek Banerjee, Kalyan Banerjee and other party workers on 1 June. On 2 June, Mamata Banerjee will hold a protest meeting on Rani Rashmoni Road... Post poll violence is going on right now... Mamata Banerjee will cover all the issues and lead our protest on Tuesday."

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BJP Takes Dig At Abhishek Banerjee

The West Bengal BJP took a swipe at the controversy surrounding the attack on Abhishek Banerjee, who was targeted by a crowd in South 24 Parganas' Sonarpur on Saturday. Banerjee was visiting the area to meet the post-poll violence victims and their families.

The BJP said, "The drama is stale and no more exciting."

(With Inputs From PTI)


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