Leaders mingling with Independent candidates contesting against party nominees will be dropped from TMC: Mamata

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that leaders found loitering with the Independent candidates of recently-concluded municipal election would be dropped from the party.

She was addressing a meeting of the party at Nazrul Mancha on Tuesday afternoon. "Some leaders are found to be hobnobbing and loitering with the Independent candidates. They even allow them to travel in their cars. They had backed them against the official candidates. We have got every information about them. The party is keeping a tab on them and such leaders will be expelled from the party at any moment."

"It is unfortunate that some party leaders had made statements in television channels against the party. We have cautioned them and they will be expelled if they continue to do so," she added. The party supremo said the party would alert such leaders and then serve show cause notices twice. Finally, such leaders will be suspended.

Banerjee maintained that there were party leaders, who think "they are greater than the party and they have done great service to the party by remaining with it." "For them (such leaders) my message is if you think like this, you may leave the party anytime," she added.

Mamata emphasised that the TMC had to fight against the CPI(M) from the very beginning and later against the BJP. "The sole purpose of these parties is to create trouble. They are against Tajpur port and Deocha Pachami as they do not want Bengal to grow and march forward," she added.

"Language has failed to describe the misbehavior of BJP in the Assembly on Monday. It was hooliganism and not politics. BJP MLAs had used abusive language against women MLAs," she maintained.

Banerjee instructed all the party MLAs to remain present in the house during the Assembly session.

"You will have to come in the morning and can leave the Assembly premises only after the session is over. This is like a school. This is the Budget session and the government may fall if an adequate number of party MLAs are not present during voting."