TMC Crisis Highlights: Mamata Banerjee should be arrested, says Bengal minister after CID visit

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Agnimitra Paul, Minister of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare of West Bengal, said Mamata Banerjee should be arrested after the CID team visited her residence.

In her exclusive interview with India Today TV, rebel TMC MP, Satabdi Roy said that Mahua Moitra, who is standing by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee in the period of crisis, has also suffered a lot earlier.

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Roy questioned the lifestyle of Trinamool's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee.

"I am not questioning his (Abhishek Banerjee) decision-making. However, as a politician, he led a lifestyle that many could not relate to. It stood against the principles that Mamata Banerjee advocated," Roy said.

Talking to India Today TV, rebel TMC MP Satabdi Roy said that she tried to address issues of corruption and several other issues inside the party ranks. However, the top brass did not listen to her.

She also stated that the party's internal environment has become increasingly intolerant of dissent or opinions from the leader.

(Inputs from Indrajit Kundu)

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Roy took a jibe at Mamata Banerjee for the exodus of the party leaders after the poll rout in the state.

Speaking to India Today TV, Roy, MP-elect from Birbhum, said that the party suffered defeat in the state polls because of the mounting level of corruption at multiple levels. She also questioned Banerjee's lack of political foresight as she failed to understand the strong undercurrents prevailing in the state.

(Inputs from Indrajit Kundu)

In her exclusive conversation with India Today, rebel TMC MP Satabdi Roy said that the rebel MPs sought support from Suvendu Adhikari, and that's why they met him at her house.

She also added that Adhikari assured them of his support. She also mentioned that the MPs would work as a separate bloc for the development of Bengal.

High drama unfolded at the Kolkata airport on Tuesday afternoon when Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee lost his cool after being surrounded and heckled by a crowd chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and labelling him a "chor" (thief).

The incident took place as the veteran lawmaker arrived at the airport and was in the middle of addressing mediapersons. Suddenly, a group of people standing nearby began shouting religious slogans and aggressively chanting 'chor, chor' at the leader.

Visibly infuriated by the provocation, the TMC MP completely lost his temper and launched a fierce counter-attack against the crowd. Confronting the hecklers head-on, an aggressive Banerjee fired back, shouting that BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is the real thief, and added that Adhikari's father is a thief as well. The sharp political exchange quickly turned the airport terminal into a chaotic battleground of words before security personnel could intervene.

(Tapas Sengupta inputs)

Mamata Banerjee left Sonia Gandhi's residence after an hour-long meeting with the latter amid growing political turbulence in the party.

(Inputs from Rahul Gautam)

Another CID team has arrived at Trinamool Congress's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's office in Camac Street in the signature forgery case.

Earlier, the investigative agency visited Mamata Banerjee's residence in the same case to conduct searches.

(Inputs from Anirban Sinha Roy)

Amid a growing rift and turbulence in the Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi at the latter's residence. The meeting between the two has started.

CID officials arrived at Mamata Banerjee's residence on Tuesday in the case related to the forged signatures of TMC MLAs. The officials chose Mamata Banerjee's residence as it also houses a TMC party office.

As per sources, the officials wanted to go inside the residence when the TMC leaders obstructed them, saying that neither Mamata Banerjee nor Abhishek Banerjee was present at the spot.

Meanwhile, a large contingent of central forces is deployed in front of the former Chief Minister's house to avoid any unpleasant situation.

Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Roy, after reaching Kolkata a day after having a meeting at Union Minister Bhupender Yadav's residence, praised TMC's lawyer-politician Kalyan Banerjee.

"Kalyan Banerjee is a great person. I don't want to say anything about him," said Roy.

Meanwhile, Kalyan Banerjee drew a lot of criticism from Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the leader of the rebel TMC MP, for his allegedly disrespecting women lawmakers.

Mamata Banerjee has arrived at 10 Janpath Road, the official residence of Sonia Gandhi. The meeting between the two leaders will begin shortly.

A team of West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials has reached the residence of Mamata Banerjee at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street in Kolkata.

According to sources, the team arrived at the address, which also serves as the central office of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), to serve a formal notice to the party's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee.

The CID is currently probing a case involving forged signatures found on a letter and the accompanying meeting resolution register. Because the disputed document was signed by Abhishek Banerjee before being submitted to the assembly speaker, CID officials have decided to question him regarding his involvement in the matter.

(Inputs from Anupam Mishra, Anirban Sinha Roy)

Bengal BJP minister Sharadwat Mukherjee took a jibe at the Trinamool Congress for the ongoing rift in the party.

Speaking to the Press Trust of India, Mukherjee said that BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav invited the rebel TMC leaders to have tea in his residence.

"We have invited them for tea because they don't have anywhere else to go. Mamata Banerjee has thrown them out. BJP has not welcomed them. TMC is a circus," he said.

Mamata Banerjee might meet Sonia Gandhi today at 4 PM amid a widening rift in the Trinamool Congress.

(Inputs from Indrajit Kundu)

On speculation about a possible merger between the Congress and TMC, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury lashed out at Mamata Banerjee and her party, accusing them of systematically weakening the Congress in Bengal. He claimed that despite the support extended by Sonia Gandhi in the past, it was the TMC that had worked to finish the Congress's organisational base in the state.

(Source: Rahul Gautam)

Reacting to the controversy surrounding Yusuf Pathan, who defeated him in Berhampore, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told India Today that it was the TMC leadership that had brought Pathan into politics. He alleged that the party fielded the former cricketer to polarise the election and end his political career in the constituency.

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told India Today that he had long maintained that the Trinamool Congress could not sustain itself without being in power. Calling TMC a "corporate party", he alleged that many within the outfit were driven by political power and that the ongoing crisis reflected growing panic within the party. He also remarked that the BJP was now doing to TMC what TMC had once done to the Left and Congress in Bengal.

(Source: Rahul Gautam)