TMC issues show-cause notice to MP

Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi has run into trouble with his party after publicly criticising a section of the leadership that has been tainted by the controversial ‘Narada’ footage.

The MP faced flak from his party and has been show-caused. The controversial footage, part of a ‘sting operation’ by a Delhi-based news portal, surfaced days before the Bengal Assembly elections and accused several top Trinamool leaders of receiving illegal cash payments to do favours for a bogus company. When the party was on a damage control mode, Trivedi publicly stated that those named in the footage should stay away from the polls till their innocence is proven.

Insiders said that Trivedi’s statement put the party leadership, including chairperson Mamata Banerjee, in a tight spot, as many of the accused leaders were set for re-election. With the polls over and the party counting days to the results on May 19, the leadership has censured Trivedi for his comments and asked him to explain his stand, failing which he could face disciplinary action.

Although party MPs, including Trinamool parliamentary party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, did not publicly mention Trivedi’s name, insiders said that he has been served a show-cause notice for “anti-party comments”. “A senior MP has been making anti-party comments and the party has taken strong exception to such statements,” Bandopadhyay told reporters.

Incidentally, this is not the first time Trivedi has run into trouble within the party. In 2012, during UPA-II regime, he hiked fares as Railway minister against Mamata’s brief, leading to he being replaced. Trivedi also embarrassed his party in 2014 when he appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s way of functioning at a time when Trinamool was at loggerheads with the BJP over central probe into the Saradha scam.