Mamata Convenes Meeting Of TMC Top Brass Amid Growing Internal Strife

Amid the ongoing internal strife in the TMC, its supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister has convened an emergency meeting of the party's top officials at her residence on Saturday evening, sources in the ruling camp said. According to the sources, just six senior leaders – national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, secretary-general Partha Chatterjee, state party president Subrata Bakshi, and ministers Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas and Chandrima Bhattacharya -- have been asked to attend the meeting.

"The meeting will be held tomorrow at 5 pm to discuss the present political situation in the party. The statements and counterstatements that are being given by some leaders have not gone down well with the party supremo. This has to stop somewhere. Our party supremo is likely to give out a message to all the leaders," a senior TMC leader said on condition of anonymity. The sources also said that Banerjee, who is yet to form a new working committee of the party, is likely to discuss strategies for the upcoming civic polls on February 28.

The infighting in the ruling TMC escalated on Friday as leaders considered to be close to party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took to Twitter to advocate the "one person one post" policy, according to which a member of the party should be allowed to hold just one position. A section of old guards, including Hakim, termed the move as violation of party discipline. The recent spat comes in the backdrop of the perceived power struggle in the party and apparent differences between the generation-next leaders and the old-timers. Hakim, who is the state housing and transport minister as well as the city mayor, said the party does not endorse any such theory, and some leaders have given out “misleading” posts. 

PTI Inputs