NEW DELHI: Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s loyalist Dola Sen on Saturday lodged two police complaints against the rebel TMC MLAs, alleging “forgery of the party symbol and impersonation of the name All India Trinamool Congress.”This comes as the Ritabrata Banerjee-led breakaway TMC faction met Kolkata’s former councillors for the second time in a week.The complaints also referred to the “circulation of false documents/electronic communications” by the rebel camp and accused it of “holding unauthorised meetings”. Earlier in the day, leader of opposition Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha were present at the meeting, displaying their grip over the dissident leaders.As many as 47 former TMC councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) were present at the meeting, which took place at a private banquet hall in the Topsia area of East Kolkata, sources said. The objective was to “strengthen the party’s support base in Kolkata after its assembly poll debacle, and in the run-up to the civic body elections” likely to take place later this year.“We are the real Trinamool Congress. We have the numbers and are the principal opposition in the state assembly. There can be no question about our legitimacy. We have constituted our national working committee and will soon announce our political programmes,” rebel TMC MLA and deputy leader of the party in the House, Sandipan Saha, said.The Bengal government dissolved the KMC board on June 8, leading all elected councillors, chairpersons, and members of the Mayor-in-Council to vacate their offices and transfer executive powers to an administrator, following Mayor Firhad Hakim’s resignation.Hakim, a former Mamata Banerjee confidant who is believed to have moved over to the rebel camp, was absent from Saturday’s meeting.“The rebel MLAs are more preoccupied with legal and organisational disputes than with the political battle. Mamata Banerjee personally created the TMC symbol, and the party’s electoral support is based on her leadership rather than individual leaders. The votes received by the party belong to Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, and any symbol endorsed by her would receive public support,” TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who remains loyal to Banerjee, said.“The mandate of over 2.6 crore voters in favour of Mamata Banerjee remains intact despite recent defections. The departure of some councillors, MLAs, or MPs does not diminish the party’s public mandate. The party’s support base will remain unaffected by the exit of a limited number of elected representatives,” she added.
