Kolkata, June 29
The battle for control of the TMC spilled further onto the legal turf on Sunday, with the Mamata Banerjee-led faction lodging fresh police complaints against dissident leader Ritabrata Banerjee and his associates, accusing them of illegally using the party’s name, symbol and organisational designations to mislead workers and supporters.
The complaints, filed by TMC’s joint national secretary Dola Sen, came a day after the party’s ‘Kalighat wing’ had approached the Pragati Maidan and New Town police with similar allegations against the breakaway camp.
The move marks a sharp escalation in the month-long struggle within the party following the assembly poll debacle, with both camps now increasingly relying on legal and organisational measures to establish their claim over the party’s legacy and structure.
In the latest complaints at Kalighat police station and Kolkata Police’s Cyber Crime division, the Mamata Banerjee loyalists named Ritabrata Banerjee, former minister Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Biplab Mitra, alleging that they were attempting to run a parallel organisation by projecting themselves as office-bearers of the All India Trinamool Congress without authorisation from the party leadership.