<p>The old guard of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) seems to be deserting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee due to severe discontent against the party leadership.</p>.<p>The gap between the TMC and Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who played a key role in catapulting the party in 2011 by organizing the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in November 2007, has been steadily widening.</p>.<p>Once a trusted lieutenant of the TMC supremo, Adhikari had been organising rallies on his own without the TMC’s banner and without even mentioning the chief minister’s name. On Tuesday, he took several digs at his party at a rally in Nandigram. Without directly mentioning the TMC, he accused the party of thinking about the Nandigram agitation only when the Assembly elections were approaching.</p>.<p>Earlier, at another rally, Adhikari said that he had reached the political heights with neither a helicopter nor by elevator.</p>.<p>Adhikari said that he would make his future course of action clear soon. “ Which path I will take and where I will be able to walk smoothly, I will reveal on a political platform,” he said.</p>.<p>The TMC leadership gave a clear indication that Adhikari’s comments had not gone down well with the party.</p>.<p>“Mir Jafars are still around these days,” said senior TMC leader and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim. Taking a veiled dig at Adhikari, he also said that those who are opposing Mamata Banerjee were actually strengthening the BJP’s hands.</p>.<p>Another erstwhile trusted aid of the Chief Minister, Rabindranath Bhattacharjee, an MLA from Singur constituency in Hooghly district, also expressed his displeasure with the party leadership. Refusing to accept the organisational reshuffle in the district he said that joining another party to remain politics was in his mind but he was yet to take a call on it.</p>.<p>Senior TMC leader Mihir Goswami, a disgruntled MLA from Cooch Behar (South) Assembly constituency in North Bengal, said that he was “not thinking of returning to the TMC” at present. Generating speculation that he might switch over to the BJP, Goswami said, “ Amit Shah is a great leader. If he calls, I will definitely meet him.” Goswami became disgruntled with the work of political strategist Prashant Kishore and his team whom he dubbed a “group of contractors.”</p>
<p>The old guard of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) seems to be deserting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee due to severe discontent against the party leadership.</p>.<p>The gap between the TMC and Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who played a key role in catapulting the party in 2011 by organizing the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in November 2007, has been steadily widening.</p>.<p>Once a trusted lieutenant of the TMC supremo, Adhikari had been organising rallies on his own without the TMC’s banner and without even mentioning the chief minister’s name. On Tuesday, he took several digs at his party at a rally in Nandigram. Without directly mentioning the TMC, he accused the party of thinking about the Nandigram agitation only when the Assembly elections were approaching.</p>.<p>Earlier, at another rally, Adhikari said that he had reached the political heights with neither a helicopter nor by elevator.</p>.<p>Adhikari said that he would make his future course of action clear soon. “ Which path I will take and where I will be able to walk smoothly, I will reveal on a political platform,” he said.</p>.<p>The TMC leadership gave a clear indication that Adhikari’s comments had not gone down well with the party.</p>.<p>“Mir Jafars are still around these days,” said senior TMC leader and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim. Taking a veiled dig at Adhikari, he also said that those who are opposing Mamata Banerjee were actually strengthening the BJP’s hands.</p>.<p>Another erstwhile trusted aid of the Chief Minister, Rabindranath Bhattacharjee, an MLA from Singur constituency in Hooghly district, also expressed his displeasure with the party leadership. Refusing to accept the organisational reshuffle in the district he said that joining another party to remain politics was in his mind but he was yet to take a call on it.</p>.<p>Senior TMC leader Mihir Goswami, a disgruntled MLA from Cooch Behar (South) Assembly constituency in North Bengal, said that he was “not thinking of returning to the TMC” at present. Generating speculation that he might switch over to the BJP, Goswami said, “ Amit Shah is a great leader. If he calls, I will definitely meet him.” Goswami became disgruntled with the work of political strategist Prashant Kishore and his team whom he dubbed a “group of contractors.”</p>
