TMC’s Madan Mitra joins rebel faction day after ED summons to wife, sons

Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra, long considered a key loyalist of party chief Mamata Banerjee, on Wednesday resigned from her faction and joined the rebel group led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee.

This came a day after Mitra’s wife and two sons were issued summons by the Enforcement Directorate in a municipal recruitment scam case.

Mitra said that his family will cooperate with the central agency in its probe and claimed that his decision was not related to the summons, the Hindustan Times reported.

He had been appointed as one of the general secretaries of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction earlier this month.

Mitra told ANI on Wednesday that he was quitting because he was “no longer able to work effectively” in it.

“More and more of Mamata Banerjee’s long-time associates are leaving the party because, in my view, the leadership is focused on promoting Abhishek Banerjee rather than strengthening the organisation,” Mitra told the news agency. “TMC is not one person’s party...”

Abhishek Banerjee is the Trinamool Congress’ national general secretary, the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew.

Mitra said that he had raised the concerns with Mamata Banerjee on several occasions, but they had not been addressed.

“In my view, Abhishek Banerjee wants decisions to be made solely on his terms and does not allow others to play a meaningful role,” the...

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