Trinamool rebel camp forms State and district committees

Intensifying efforts to portray itself as the original Trinamool Congress, the party’s Ritabrata Banerjee camp announced State and district committees on Saturday.

The rebel group has the support of around 65 of the 80 MLAs in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.

Rebels announced regional heads for 26 organizational regions. These include MLAs and former loyalists of party chief Mamata Banerjee. Trinamool leader Anubrata Mondal, who is considered a loyalist of Ms. Banerjee, has been nominated as Birbhum district president of the rebel camp.

Other notable names include Narendranath Chakraborty, who has been nominated as district president of Paschim Bardhaman, Debasish Kumar from Kolkata South and MLA Emani Biswas as Jangigur organizational district party president.

Chanchal MLA Prasun Banerjee has been nominated as the party’s chief spokesperson.

The rebel group also announced that it will hold an annual Martyrs’ Day event in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on Kolkata’s Mayo Road.

Kolkata Police did not allow both the Ms. Banerjee-led group and the Ritabrata group to hold an annual Martyrs’ Day rally in front of Victoria House in Kolkata.

Former Trinamool Congress MLA from Panihati Nirmal Ghosh is also trying to warm up to the rebel camp.

The Ritabrata camp has been holding many meetings over the last few days. Mr. Ghosh, who went missing after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently interrogated him in the RG Kar rape and murder, was spotted at the meeting place of Trinamool rebels.

Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee said “no decision has been taken” against the former MLA of Panihati. “Even though he came, there was no discussion,” Mr. Banerjee said.

Other leaders seen at the meeting of Ritabrata Banerjee camp were former Rajya Sabha MP Shantanu Sen, Trinamool candidate from Ashoknagar Narayan Goswami and Behala assemblyman Sushant Ghosh.