Mamata ‘s Lawmaker Provokes her as Trinamool Battles Rift Within
NEW DELHI : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party lawmaker has dared her to punish him for writing to the central government directly about corruption in his constituency.
At a time Ms Banerjee is fighting to check the influence of the BJP in poll-bound Bengal, Trinamool legislator Swapan Ghosh has written to union minister Venkaiah Naidu asking for his intervention in his constituency Siuri.
Mr Ghosh claims funds have been stolen from a Rs. 10 crore central water supply project in Siuri. He had apparently complained to his party leadership, but getting no response, wrote directly to Mr Naidu.
“If Mamata Banerjee wants to take action against me for this, so be it. I will fight against the party – it is not about Trinamool or CPM or Congress,” Mr Ghosh said last evening.The legislator has been in the spotlight for alleging that “extortionists in the Trinamool are not allowing good people to work.”
Mr Ghosh’s actions may further rattle a party that is struggling to keep its flock together ahead of the assembly election next year.Last week, Mamata Banerjee snubbed one of her chief lieutenants, Mukul Roy, and appointed as party vice president Dinesh Trivedi, who had recently praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and appeared inclined to join the BJP.
Mukul Roy has been questioned at length in connection with a Ponzi scheme scandal in the state and has reportedly fallen out of favour with his party chief after he skipped a key meeting on municipal . There is speculation that he is shopping for support and could divide the party.
