TMC MLA says reins of party not in Mamata's hands any more

Speculations over Trinamool Congress MLA Mihir Goswami's imminent exit from the party gained momentum on Tuesday after he alleged in a social media post that the reins of the TMC are not in the hands of Mamata Banerjee any more and he cannot be part of it. Goswami claimed that he has digested insults within the TMC on several occasions, but had stuck to it because of 'Didi'.

"The reins of the party are not in the hands of my leader (Banerjee) anymore and as such it cannot be my party; so is it not natural to sever all ties with it?" the veteran TMC leader said in the post.

The MLA of Cooch Behar Dakshin seat said that he has been with Banerjee for the last 30 years, including 22 years in the TMC since its inception in 1998. He lamented that he has not got a telephone call from her even six weeks after announcing his decision to take leave from all organisational posts of the party.

"I have not received any suspension or expulsion order from the party either," he wrote in the Facebook post.

Goswami is in a strained relationship with the TMC leadership after he resigned from all organisational posts accusing poll strategist Prashant Kishor's organisation Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) of running the party. Following reverses in the Lok Sabha polls last year, the TMC has hired I-PAC to shore up its popularity in the state ahead of the assembly election in 2021. A meeting between the TMC MLA and BJP MP Nisith Pramanik from Coochbehar in October also fuelled speculation over Goswami's future political course.