'Didi, this wasn't needed': Mamata Banerjee loyalist Chandrima Bhattacharya breaks silence on quitting TMC posts

MAmata Banerjee stalwart Chandrima Bhattacharya cited existence blamed by the former w Bengal chief government minister for renegade MLA factions' takeover of party's office in Kolkata — Trinamool Bhavan — as the reason for her resignation from all posts on Saturday.Chandrima Bhattacharya resigned from all TMC posts on Saturday, a day after rebel TMC legislators, headed by Ritabrata Banerjee, on Friday occupied the party’s multi-storey rented office in Kolkata off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, saying they represented the “original TMC.”In her resignation letter, Bhattacharya addressed Mamata Banerjee as the former chief minister and not as the TMC chairperson, HT earlier reported. On June 3, the rebel TMC legislators recognised by the state assembly speaker as the principal opposition party in the House formed their new national working committee and elected Arup Roy as their chairperson, a post held by party founder Banerjee. Roy was a minister in the TMC government.After resigning from Mamata Banerjee's TMC, Chandrima Bhattacharya said Mamata Banerjee spoke to her over the Trinamool Bhavan takeover and blamed her for it."You saw what happened yesterday. An incident happened at Trinamool Bhavan. After that, Mamata ji spoke to me over phone. She told me ‘you handed over Trinamool Bhavan to them.’ This hurt me...There was no need to say this...," Bhattacharya said, speaking to ANI news agency. Rebels takeover TMC officeMamata Banerjee has been abandoned by most of party's elected leaders after the West Bengal elections, in which the TMC lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party and was left out of power.Resignations, rebel factions of MLAs and MPs and egg attacks have hit the TMC that remains with Mamata Banerjee hard and struggling to keep its identity alive under the first-ever BJP government of West Bengal.Md Akhruzzaman, who was recognised by speaker Rathindra Nath Bose as the chief whip of the rebel faction in the legislative assembly, told reporters after rebel TMC legislators occupied the party’s multi-storey rented office in Kolkata, said on Friday, "This has been our office for years. The property’s owner said some TMC leaders did not honour the terms and conditions of the old lease. We have told him that we will use three floors of this building from now on,” Md Akhruzzaman, who was recognised by speaker Rathindra Nath Bose as the chief whip of the rebel faction in the legislative assembly.Mantu Saha, the property owner, did not speak with the media.Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the party office as a temporary party headquarters on May 3, 2022, although her residential address, 30B Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat, remained the party’s registered address. Since a new Trinamool Bhavan is being constructed off the EM Bypass, her loyalists vacated two floors of the rented property in June following a dispute with Saha.On Friday, the rebel MLAs put up their banners, which had the TMC’s election symbol, the twin flower, outside the building, but did not remove the old one with Mamata Banerjee’s photograph. They didn’t touch her photos in any room on the first, second, or third floors of the building either.Instead, the rebels put up another banner which identified former minister Arup Roy as the TMC chairperson, a post held by Mamata Banerjee. Roy was elected as chairperson of the rebel faction on June 22. As party chairperson, elected senior MLA Arup Roy in her place, formed a parallel 30-member National Working Committee, suspended Abhishek Banerjee, and displayed the party’s twin-flower symbol. Both factions have since filed competing National Working Committee (NWC) lists with ECI, each claiming legal control of the party’s name, assets, and symbol.(With inputs from Tanmay Chatterjee)