Hours after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned rebel party candidates of action if they did not withdraw from the fray for the February 27 municipal polls, the party leadership started acting against the rebels.
According to sources in the ruling party, more than 50 Trinamool rebels, who had entered the civic poll fray as Independent candidates, have already been expelled and hundreds of workers suspended. The bulk of those who faced action over the last 24 hours are from Nadia and North 24 Parganas.
Chairing the first meeting of the newly formed national working committee of the Trinamool on Friday, Banerjee again instructed senior party leaders to come down hard on rebellion, if any. After holding consultations with her trusted party lieutenants, the Trinamool chief named the mayors and their deputies for the four municipal corporations that the party won last week.
Banerjee announced that former state minister Goutam Deb will take over as the next mayor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) while state Transport Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said Krishna Chakraborty is the official party choice for the civic chief of Bidhannagar. Two-time Bidhannagar mayor Sabyasachi Dutta, who returned to the Trinamool last year after a stint with the BJP and was seen to be in a race with Chakraborty for the top post, has been named the chairperson of the civic body.
In Asansol, Bidhan Upadhyay will be the new mayor while Abhijit Ghatak, the brother of state minister Malay Ghatak, and Amarnath Chatterjee will be his deputies. The party also announced Ram Chakraborty as its mayoral pick for Chandannagar in Hooghly district.
Three days ago, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee had given a 48-hour ultimatum to the rebel candidates to withdraw or face action. Speaking to district leaders, Chatterjee said the rebels should pull out of the fray within the specified deadline and start campaigning for the official party candidates, failing which they will face stern action. Hakim, too, had warned the rebels of consequences.
Trinamool sources said even after being told to pull out, many of these Independents did not withdraw nomination and even started campaigning as Independents with symbols such as candle, apple, double leaf or the rising sun.
According to Trinamool sources, the majority of these rebel candidates entered the fray as Independents in Bankura district. Most did not withdraw their nomination even after being warned of
action.
A senior Trinamool leader said, тАЬDuring a review meeting, our leader Mamata Banerjee instructed the district leadership to act tough against the rebels as she felt the rebellion could hurt our results in the civic elections.тАЭ
┬а
