Two MPs from Mamata Banerjee-led faction removed from key Parliamentary panels

Kolkata, Oct 3 (IANS) Two Lok Sabha members from the “original but minority” faction in the Trinamool Congress led by the former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday were removed from their earlier positions heading two Parliamentary Standing Committees.

Cricketer-turned-politician and the Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Bardhaman-Durgapur Constituency in West Burdwan district of West Bengal, Kirti Azad lost his chair as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilisers. Azad is among the right-wing Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha members, continuing his allegiance towards Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

He was replaced by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, who is the leading face of the bloc of 20 erstwhile Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha members from West Bengal who broke away from the party and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and also became a partner in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Ghosh Dastidar is a four-time Lok Sabha member from Barasat Constituency in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

On the other hand, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Dola Sen, another leading face in the Mamata Banerjee-led faction in Trinamool Congress, lost her chair as the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce & Industries. Sen was replaced by the BJP’s Rajya Sabha member, Sudhanshu Trivedi.

Soon after the West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year, Trinamool Congress got trifurcated, with the original faction led by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee becoming the minority faction in terms of their presence in the Lok Sabha as well as in the West Bengal Assembly.

In the West Bengal Assembly, the Trinamool Congress’s faction led by the expelled party legislator Ritabrata Banerjee became the majority bloc, with Ritabrata being officially announced as the Leader of the Opposition in the House.

On the other hand, only eight of 28 Trinamool Congress MPs maintained their allegiance towards Mamata Banerjee, while 20 others joined the NCPI and became a part of the NDA.

–IANS

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