West Bengal's political circles were abuzz again on Monday after Trinamool Congress leader Shashi Panja visited the clinic of Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the MP linked to the NCPI, for the second straight day. Her repeated visits have once again fuelled speculation that she could be preparing to part ways with Mamata Banerjee's party. Panja, a former minister, gave no clear answer when reporters pressed her on the possibility of quitting the TMC.
All she said while walking out of the clinic
As Panja stepped out of the clinic, waiting journalists stopped her and asked whether she was preparing to leave the Trinamool Congress. She responded with a faint smile and just four words: "I have to go." She then walked away without saying anything further. That brief remark itself raised plenty of questions, since she neither denied the speculation outright nor confirmed it, even as reporters pressed her repeatedly for a clearer answer.
A meeting just 800 metres from Mamata Banerjee's home
Notably, the clinic Panja visited is located barely 800 metres from former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence in Kalighat. The short distance between the two locations has only added to the buzz around Panja's political leanings. She had visited the same clinic last week as well, and that visit too had triggered similar speculation in political circles. Two visits to the same place within two consecutive weeks are being read as more than mere coincidence.
Ghosh Dastidar says the bond is over three decades old, purely medical
Ghosh Dastidar, who had herself rebelled against the TMC, has firmly denied any political angle to these meetings. She said her association with Panja goes back more than three decades and is entirely tied to her profession as a doctor, with nothing to do with politics. Despite her clarification, speculation in political circles has shown no sign of dying down.
20 MPs have already walked out on Mamata Banerjee
The cracks within Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress have become evident since the West Bengal assembly election results were declared. 20 Lok Sabha MPs from the party have already rebelled and broken away from the TMC. These MPs have together formed a separate group called the Nationalist Citizens Party of India, or NCPI, and all of them have extended their support to the NDA. They recently attended an NDA parliamentary party meeting for the first time. Several other leaders within the party are also ready to leave Mamata Banerjee, and that is precisely why TMC leaders have been meeting these rebel leaders in an attempt to persuade them to stay.
