Kolkata: Earlier this week, veteran Trinamool Congress leader and a 5-time MLA, Tapas Ray said that he might quit politics in near future. According to media reports, another TMC veteran and a long-time aide of Mamata Banerjee, Madan Mitra, is also said to have expressed his desire to quit politics. At a time when TMC in Bengal is in turmoil, with several members, from Partha Chatterjee to Anubrata Mondal behind bars for their alleged involvement in different scams, the “wanting to quit politics” statements of veteran leaders raise questions. Are leaders looking for an exit considering the times or are these just tactics to improve their standing within the party?
Talking about the issue, BJP MP from Bengal and a national vice president of Bhartiya Janta Party, Dilip Ghosh said, “This is known as ‘sasan bairagya’. It means that when people visit a cremation ground, they get these feelings – ‘what’s the point of life?’, ‘everything will end’. That’s what’s happening with these TMC leaders!”
Addressing the issue of Madan Mitra, Ghosh also expressed scepticism about his “retirement plan”. “As long as everything was running smmothly, these people were also quiet. This is just drama, TMC -Mamata Banerjee’s party – is a drama party; he (Madan Mitra) is making such statements to create noise. Mitra has himself been in prison during the Saradha scam. All these might just be a ploy to avoid CBI, ED scanner, but that won’t happen.”
Ghosh also touched upon the subject of six of Mamata Banerjee’s family members being told by the Calcutta High Court to submit affidavits related to their properties and other assets. Ghosh said Mamata is aiding her relatives and helpig them to hide their wealth. He also said that in today’s meeting in Kolkata, the West Bengal CM will try to guage who’s with the party and who isn’t. He also took a dig at the CM and said she has “no control over the party, nor does she have any control over the state”.