Kolkata: Deepening the organisational and legislative battle within the TMC, Mamata Banerjee's camp has sought removal of Firhad Hakim as the party's chief whip in West Bengal Assembly and proposed Madan Mitra as his replacement, after the ex-Kolkata mayor joined the dissident faction led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.
The move came hours after the TMC leadership show-caused Hakim and accused him of anti-party activities for accepting a position in the rebel camp's parallel organisational structure announced on Monday.
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According to sources in the Mamata Banerjee camp, an official email was sent to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose around 10:45 pm on Monday informing him that Hakim should no longer be treated as the TMC's chief whip and requesting that Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra be recognised in the role instead.
On Tuesday morning, before the start of the Assembly session, senior TMC leader and party's official nominee for the post of LoP Sovandeb Chattopadhyay went to the Speaker's office and submitted a hard copy of the communication sent the previous night, sources said.
However, the Speaker's office declined to act on the request, citing the ongoing legal and procedural disputes arising from the split within the opposition party, they added.
Sources in the Mamata Banerjee camp said they argued before the Speaker that while the issue relating to the leadership of the legislature party was under judicial scrutiny, there was no legal dispute specifically concerning the post of chief whip.
There was no immediate comment from the Speaker's office.
The attempt to replace Hakim marked another escalation in the confrontation between the two rival TMC factions, which are increasingly contesting control over both the party organisation and its legislative wing.
Hakim, long regarded as one of Mamata Banerjee's closest political associates and among her most trusted lieutenants, joined the dissident camp's organisational exercise and was subsequently accommodated in the parallel structure unveiled at a special session convened by the rebels in Kolkata on Monday.
However, just two days back, Mamata Banerjee's camp revised the party's National Working Committee, dropping several leaders who had aligned with the dissidents, including Hakim and former minister Aroop Biswas.
Show-cause notices were also issued to a number of senior leaders accused of anti-party activities.
The latest move comes against the backdrop of an unprecedented crisis within the TMC following its defeat in the assembly elections that ended its 15-year rule in West Bengal.
The first major setback for the party leadership came when a majority of TMC MLAs backed expelled leader Ritabrata Banerjee's claim to the post of Leader of Opposition, rejecting Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, the nominee chosen by the party high command.
The rebel camp had then elected TMC MLA Akhruzzaman Ansari as Chief whip, instead of Hakim.
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Mamata Banerjee had moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the Speaker's decision to accept Ritabrata Banerjee's candidature as LoP.
Since then, the conflict has expanded beyond the legislature into the organisational structure of the party, with rival factions announcing separate committees, staking claim to party assets and preparing to press competing claims before election authorities.
