'Quit Before July 21': Mamata Banerjee tells Trinamool members
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Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged Trinamool Congress leaders and workers who are considering joining the rebel faction led by expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee to leave the party before July 21.
Speaking during a Facebook Live session, Banerjee said those facing pressure from the BJP or central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the police should make their decision before the party’s annual Martyrs’ Day rally.
Her remarks came shortly after former Trinamool Congress MLA Tapas Chatterjee, who represented the Rajarhat-Newtown constituency in North 24 Parganas, indicated that he may leave the Mamata Banerjee-led faction and join the Ritabrata camp.
Banerjee said July 21 would mark a new beginning for her and her loyal supporters. Referring to the origins of the Trinamool Congress, she said she was prepared to “start from scratch” once again, similar to the process that began in 1997 when she broke away from the Congress and later founded the Trinamool Congress in January 1998.
She told potential defectors that remaining in the party while planning to leave would only damage the organisation, and asserted that their departure would not weaken the Trinamool Congress.
The Trinamool Congress chief also claimed that even family members of those commemorated during the party’s Martyrs’ Day observance were being pressured to attend the parallel programme being organised by the rebel faction.
This year, the Mamata Banerjee-led faction will hold its July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally near Birla Planetarium in central Kolkata instead of the traditional venue outside CESC House near Esplanade, following directions from the Calcutta High Court.
The Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction is scheduled to organise a separate rally on the same day along Jawaharlal Nehru Road in central Kolkata.
With IANS inputs