“I am confident that courage has travelled from Kolkata to Delhi, covering a distance of 1,435 km,” Expelled TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee said. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
Expelled Trinamool Congress leader and newly appointed Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Ritabrata Banerjee, spoke to The Hindu, explaining the reasons and timing of his revolt, his relationship with the ruling BJP, and hinting at a split in the parliamentary party in Delhi too.
Why did you and others aligned with you decide to strike out, and why now?
This was the perfect time. Before the elections, I could have been killed. Had the Trinamool Congress won the election, I would have had to remain silent. The selection of the time was not dependent on me. There was no way we could have raised our grievances within the party. The party’s structure had collapsed. Non-political people had been at the helm of affairs. The grassroots party created by Mamata Banerjee has been hijacked by Abhishek Banerjee and his corporate brokers from IPAC. Despite a good performance, I was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. Instead, in these Assembly polls, I was sent to the Uluberia Assembly constituency, which I was unfamiliar with. For the first three days, I was not allowed to enter Uluberia because the local municipal chairman, who was also a contender for the ticket, was miffed. During my campaign there, I came to understand the spread of corruption on the ground.
