NEW DELHI: The rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by leader of the opposition and Uluberia Purba MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, on Monday named senior party MLA Arup Roy as the chairperson of what it described as the “real” TMC. Trinamool was founded by Mamata Banerjee in January 1998 after she quit the Congress. She has led the party since its inception and served as West Bengal chief minister for 15 years before the TMC was voted out of power in the assembly elections in April.The decision to appoint Roy was taken at a special session held at a five-star hotel in Kolkata’s New Town, attended by rebel legislators, councillors and former elected representatives from several districts.The dissident camp maintained that the meeting had been convened to address what it called a “constitutional crisis” within the organisation.“The organisational structure was not renewed after the expiry of its tenure. Therefore, it became necessary to initiate the process of reconstituting the party’s national leadership,” a leader present at the meeting quoted Ritabrata Banerjee as saying.Roy, the MLA from Howrah Central, was elected chairperson by voice vote.The faction also announced a new national working committee comprising Roy, Ritabrata Banerjee, former Kolkata mayor and one-time Mamata Banerjee aide Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Biplab Mitra, Akhruzzaman Ansari, Sabina Yasmin, Sandipan Saha, Rathin Ghosh, and Javed Khan.Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas, Rathin Ghosh and Sabina Yasmin were named vice-chairpersons, while Ritabrata Banerjee, Javed Khan and Sandipan Saha were appointed general secretaries.Akhruzzaman Ansari was later named treasurer. The faction also resolved to appoint an auditor to examine the party’s finances.(With PTI inputs)
