Mamata camp claims it sent office-bearers’ list to EC before unveiling of rival leadership line-up

According to leaders loyal to Mamata Banerjee, the party’s leadership structure and a 24-member NWC were finalised on Saturday, and the revised list was submitted to the EC on Monday, hours before the dissident camp held a special session in Kolkata and announced a parallel organisational set-up.

“While the rebel camp was making preparations for its own NWC, Mamata Banerjee had already finalised the party’s organisational structure and sent the list to the EC as the chairperson of the TMC,” a senior leader of her camp told.

Sources said the list submitted to the poll panel named Mamata Banerjee as chairperson, Subrata Bakshi as vice-president, Abhishek Banerjee as national general secretary, Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen as joint secretaries, and Subhasish Chakraborty as treasurer.

The revised panel marked a departure from the committee announced earlier this month, dropping several leaders who subsequently joined the dissident camp.

Among those omitted were Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas, while Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haque was inducted into the new structure, the sources said.

The move appeared aimed at pre-empting a challenge from the rebels, who on Monday convened what they described as a special session of the All India Trinamool Congress at a hotel in New Town, elected senior MLA Arup Roy as chairperson and constituted a 30-member NWC.

Leaders from several districts attended the meeting, which formally endorsed the parallel organisational structure announced by the dissident camp.

On Tuesday, the rebel faction sharpened its offensive, with its leaders set to visit the CEO’s office after the assembly session and seek recognition of their organisation as the legitimate Trinamool Congress.

The move would be the first formal attempt by the dissidents to place their claim before election authorities after Mamata Banerjee’s camp submitted its revised office-bearers’ list to the EC.

In another decision, the TMC’s disciplinary committee issued show-cause notices to several senior leaders, including Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Rathin Ghosh, Biplab Mitra, Snehasis Chakraborty and Sabina Yasmin, alleging anti-party activities.

Senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh has dismissed the rebels’ actions.