NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Sunday accused veteran party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay of lying about his health after he joined TMC’s rebel MPs and met Union ministers Amit Shah and Bhupender Yadav in Delhi.
Moitra Calls Out Bandyopadhyay
According to Moitra, Bandyopadhyay had informed the party that he was hospitalised in Kolkata with a stomach ailment. “His mask & his wig both come off — @SudipBAITC told us he was in Apollo Kolkata with a tummy bug when we suddenly saw him on TV in Delhi in Bhupinder Yadav’s home,” she posted on X.
Moitra also asked Bandyopadhyay to remove Trinamool’s name from his X handle and change it to “BJP B team.”
TMC Spokesperson Criticizes Bandyopadhyay
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also criticised Bandyopadhyay, referring to what he described as the five-term Lok Sabha MP’s “history of changing parties.” Bandyopadhyay has had two earlier stints with the Congress and is currently in his second tenure with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.
“Mamata didi gave positions and honour to these people, and this is what these people give in return. Sudip Bandyopadhyay has a history of changing parties,” Ghosh told ANI.
“We had said that he is not good and his politics worked only by misleading Mamata didi. I was once suspended by the party for it. Today, it is being proved that what I said that day was correct,” he added.
Political Implications
Bandyopadhyay’s “defection” means that 20 of TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs have now turned rebels, giving them a two-thirds majority to bypass the anti-defection law and be recognised as a separate group in the House. However, the party disputes this.
Meanwhile, in West Bengal, 60 of its 80 MLAs have revolted against Mamata Banerjee, whose 15-year run as chief minister ended with TMC’s defeat in the April assembly elections.
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