Has Mukul Roy, once West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s close aide, floated a new party following his ignominious experience in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) earlier this year?
A newspaper advertisement announcing the formation of the Jatiyotabadi (Nationalist) Trinamool Congress as a new political party has sent the state’s political circles in a tizzy. The small black-and-white insertion in a Kolkata-based Hindi newspaper that appeared on Friday is believed to have marked the debut of the sidelined leader’s new party ahead of the state elections scheduled next year.
Roy, a former Union minister and Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC, told Deccan Herald: “I’ll speak when the time comes,” when asked about the new party. It has been speculated for some time that Roy, who saw a widening gap with the TMC leadership after his deposition before the Central Bureau of Investigation investigating the Saradha chit-fund scam, would soon quit the party and float his own outfit.
Under the Representation of People Act, 1951, every new party has to publish advertisements in at least four dailies before the launch. Friday’s advertisement said an application for registration of the party and its symbol has been filed with the Election Commission.
Published 19 September 2015, 19:44 IST