Kolkata, July 14:
Having taken its battle from legislature to organisation, the rebel TMC is now preparing to test its strength on the streets, with protests against the BJP government’s anti-gangster law and proposed UCC set to mark the first public demonstration of its claim to be the party’s rightful heir.
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction is planning statewide movements against the newly enacted anti-gangster law and the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) after the July 21 Martyrs’ Day programmes, marking its first major public mobilisation since unveiling parallel state and district committees last week.
The sequence is deliberate.
Over the past month, the rebels have steadily expanded their challenge to the Mamata Banerjee camp – first through a special party session that removed her as party chairperson and elected senior MLA Arup Roy in her place, then by constituting a parallel national working committee, approaching the Election Commission seeking recognition as the “real” TMC, and most recently by rolling out parallel state, district and frontal organisation committees.