Trinamool Faces Internal Rift: Leaders Speak Out on Corruption and Power Struggle

Barely three months after West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee set up disciplinary committees within the party to check intra-party feuds, a growing factionalism has come to the fore once again: top leaders have alleged rampant “money transaction” within the Trinamool.

Public statements by two top Trinamool leaders—Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee and former minister and MLA from Kamarhati, Madan Mitra—both close aides of Mamata, suggest that even orders from the party chief are not enough to stem the rot.

Kalyan first stirred the hornet’s nest, when in a recent interview he said, “I am there only because Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is there… I don’t feel like staying [in the party] after seeing the way Didi’s ministers behave… Some ministers… present [her with] half-hearted facts.” Kalyan, an ardent Mamata loyalist, was included in the party’s national executive committee last November, when Mamata made some significant changes to the party structure.

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His outburst caused considerable discomfort among party leaders: State Parliamentary Affairs minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, who is also part of the assembly disciplinary committee said, “If he wants to quit the party because of the way I behave, then I will quit the party… I behave in a restrained manner.” Kalyan subsequently apologised for his comment. “…I regret causing any hurt. While I do have grievances with a few ministers, I will express them within the party in a constructive manner,” he posted on social media.

Kalyan’s attack was distinctly tepid compared to the comments made by Madan. On January 31, he told a private news channel that a “tremendous amount of money transaction” was taking place within Trinamool. Hypothetically speaking, he said, “As an MLA, I had no power. Now overnight I have made Rs.100 crore. Now I want to become a minister. I say, ‘brother, make me a minister.’ [They say] to have a good ministry, one needs to give Rs.10 crore. I give it, and it remains to be seen whether I become a minister or not. If I do, I make Rs.20 crore; and if not, I lose Rs.10 crore,” he said. He pointed out that no FIR can be made to the police for this, as “there is no document [of the transaction].”

A file picture of former minister Madan Mitra, who recently alleged that a “tremendous amount of money transaction” was taking place within Trinamool.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

He claimed that positions from the lowest panchayat level, to the block levels, and upward, are sold. “Take for instance, a particular cell in the Dalhousie area… I will not mention any name; to be a president of that cell, one has to pay Rs.10 lakh… it is recovered. It is a good investment,” said Madan. According to him, it is more “profitable” to be a position-holder in Trinamool than being a West Bengal Civil Services officer or a gazetted officer. Interestingly, Madan himself was arrested a few years ago in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam.

‘Just show a photograph’

“For a post, some people are asking for Rs.5 lakh or Rs.10 lakh… If anybody with a Trinamool stamp on him, manages to get photographed touching Didi’s [Mamata’s] feet, or standing beside Abhishek da or Madan da, or anyone, he is made. The police in the area will not touch him. If a complaint goes to the police, they will show a photograph and say, ‘Look I am a Trinamool activist,’” claimed Madan. But he maintained that Mamata Banerjee is not involved in the corruption.

However, speaking to a private news channel, he did not rule out the possibility that she is aware of all that is happening. “I don’t know whether she knows or not, but I would sound stupid if I said that one who is the highest authority in the party does not have the knowledge of all that is happening.”

Reacting to Madan’s allegation, an influential cabinet minister and Mayor of Kolkata, Firhad Hakim said, “Such things should not be said outside. The chief minister herself selects the ministers. These things should remain within the party.”

Political observers believe that these outbursts are a reflection of a growing tension perceived between Mamata and her heir apparent, her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, the all-India general secretary of the party. “Mamata has created her own replacement by placing Abhishek as the second-most powerful person in the party. Since this struggle is at the very top, nobody is openly naming names, but it is apparent who is being targeted by whom,” says veteran political analyst Biswajit Bhattacharya.

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“But the biggest problem for Trinamool here is that in certain areas, local leaders are becoming vulnerable to attacks from rival factions within their own party,” he added, referring to the recent spate of violent inner-party conflicts in different parts of the State. A Trinamool source agreed with Bhattacharya’s observation: “Today in the party, the running question is, ‘Are you in Mamata’s camp or in Abhishek’s?’ In the battle of monarchs, the innocent soldiers are dying,” said the source, borrowing a line from Madan’s recent observation.

Disciplinary committees were formed during the doctors’ protest over the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor inside the government-run R.G. Kar Hospital in Kolkata. At the height of the protest, several top leaders publicly suggested that Mamata relinquish some of her powers to Abhishek, and make him the deputy chief minister. In November, Mamata brought about changes within the party, forming disciplinary committees, with her own core group heading them. Abhishek was conspicuous by his absence in all of them. Mamata also asserted that she alone was the last word in Trinamool.

‘Naba’ Trinamool vs the old guard

Abhishek’s meteoric rise has also been accompanied by vicious intra-party conflicts between the “naba Trinamool” (the new Trinamool) loyal to Abhishek, and the old guard, loyal to Mamata. In fact, of late, the most violent political battles have not been between Trinamool and the Opposition, but between these two factions of the ruling party.

Psephologist and academic Biswanath Chakraborty pointed out that Madan and Kalyan’s outbursts were just the most recent examples of a party being sharply divided. “This further accentuates the growing rumours of a rift between Mamata and Abhishek, and Madan and Kalyan, like several other party leaders, are openly voicing their support for Mamata and, in an oblique way, undermining Abhishek’s authority,” said Chakraborty.