TMC calls meeting of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation councillors, excludes Sabyasachi

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress is likely to take stern action against Sabyasachi Dutta, Mayor, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) for his anti-party activity.

A meeting has been called on Sunday at Trinamool Bhavan where all councillors of the BMC have been invited. However, no invitation has been extended to Dutta.

The meeting will be chaired by Firhad Hakim, the state Municipal Affairs minister.

Hakim said any worker who wants to remain in the party should follow discipline. "It is uncalled for any person to remain in the party and make comments that tarnish the party's image. For me, such persons should leave the party," he said.

Dutta had led the workers of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited on Friday at Bidyut Bhavan demanding hike in salary. He held Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, state Power minister, responsible for failing to increase salaries of the employees and threatened that there will be no power if this situation continues.

The Trinamool Congress took a strong exception to the speech and hurriedly called a meeting of the councillors of the BMC on Sunday. For quite some time, a rumour has been doing the rounds that Dutta would join the saffron brigade.

It had gathered momentum when Mukul Roy had visited Dutta's house before the general election. Later, Dutta had dismissed the rumour of his joining the BJP.

On July 1, a controversy had come up after Dutta refused to share the dais with Tapas Chatterjee, Deputy Mayor of the BMC, at a function to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr BC Roy in Salt Lake.

Dutta had fallen out of favour of party supremo Mamata Banerjee after Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the party's nominee, trailed behind her nearest BJP rival in the Lok Sabha election.

Ghosh Dastidar had taken a lead of over 73,000 votes in 2014 Lok Sabha election from New Town-Rajarhat Assembly segment which is Dutta's constituency.