West Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday took a swipe at the Trinamool Congress (TMC), saying "the sooner this party ends, the better," as the ruling party's internal crisis deepened with rival factions staking claim to the organisation and its legislative leadership.
The remarks came as a group of rebel TMC MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee, who has declared himself Leader of the Opposition, met West Bengal's Chief Election Officer amid an escalating battle over control of the party.
Addressing reporters in Kolkata, Ghosh described the crisis as an internal matter of the TMC and said it would ultimately be up to the Election Commission to determine which faction is recognised.
"The Election Commission will decide who will be the leader, how many divisions there will be, and what the party's name will be. This is being discussed in our Legislative Assembly as well," Ghosh said.
"The public isn't concerned about this because the sooner this party ends, the better," he added.
The TMC has been engulfed in a bitter leadership battle after a rebel faction led by Banerjee announced a parallel leadership structure and named senior MLA Arup Roy as party chairperson.
The faction also unveiled a 30-member National Working Committee (NWC), assigning key organisational roles to several prominent TMC leaders, including Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Rathin Ghosh, Sabina Yasmin and Javed Khan.
The rebel camp has claimed the backing of a substantial section of TMC legislators and asserted that it represents the "real TMC".
Mamata Banerjee's camp responded by initiating disciplinary action against senior leaders associated with the rival faction. On Tuesday, the party's disciplinary committee issued show-cause notices to Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Rathin Ghosh, Biplab Mitra, Snehasis Chakraborty and Sabina Yasmin for alleged anti-party activities.
All eight leaders were subsequently expelled from the party.
In a parallel move aimed at reinforcing her authority, Mamata Banerjee submitted an official list of office-bearers to the Election Commission identifying herself as the party chairperson.
The developments have set the stage for a wider battle over the party's identity, organisational control and legislative strength, with both factions seeking recognition as the legitimate Trinamool Congress.
(With inputs from ANI)
